The Rise of Uzumaki Naruto
by FeJazz
Summary: After his confrontation with Mizuki, Naruto finds himself in the Hokage's office, and determines it's time that he stops playing at being a Ninja, follow Naruto as he strives towards his dream of becoming the Hokage, and unveils the truth of his past. Strong Naruto, not Godlike Naruto. Naru/Hina later. This is my first fanfic, so read and review please. Rated M for Violence later
1. Chapter 1 - Rise from Darkness

Hey Everyone, this is my first FF, so sorry if it's not everyone's thing, any reviews are welcome, with that said I hope you like it. - FeJazz

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"Naruto" - Person Speaking

_"Naruto" _- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

_**"Naruto"** _- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 1 - Rising from Darkness**

Naruto couldn't believe what had just happened, not even an hour ago, he had been betrayed by one of his teachers. Mizuki-teme had tricked him into stealing the villages Forbidden scroll, and then tried to kill him and Iruka-sensei. He didn't even want to think about the other thing Mizuki had told him about. But now he knew, he knew why everyone in the village hated him, he had a demon, the Kyūbi no Kitsune sealed inside of him.

He was relieved that Iruka had told him that he wasn't a demon himself, his world had come crashing down when Mizuki first told him, but Iruka said he believed in Naruto, and Naruto wasn't going to betray the trust Iruka-sensei had in him. _I'm going to show those villagers that I'm not the Kyūbi, I'll make them ackdowledge me –ttebayo! _

"Naruto, how are you feeling?" The aging Hokage asked the boy, they had been sitting in the office for half an hour, and the boy hadn't spoken even once. "I heard from the hospital a few moments ago, you don't need to worry Naruto, Iruka is going to be fine."

"He is? Thank Kami, I was really worried." Naruto let out a breath that he'd hadn't even realized he'd been holding in.

"You'll be able to visit him tomorrow morning Naruto, but for now we really need to talk about what you've been through." Naruto had expected this, he really didn't want to relive what had happened, but he knew he couldn't just imagine it hadn't happened. "Just start at the beginning Naruto, explain everything that you remember."

Naruto let out a sigh before starting, "Ok Jiiji, I was sitting out infront of the Academy after I failed my exam again, and watching the other kids show off their hitai-ate to their families, when Mizuki-sensei came up to me and told me there that there was a secret test that would let me pass the exam." Naruto hated himself looking back, he should have known that there wasn't any stupid test, but he just sighed and continued, "Anyways, Mizuki-tem.. sensei told me that all I had to do to pass was sneak into your office, grab that stupid scroll, and meet up with him in the forest."

Now it was the Hokage's turn to sigh, he figured this was how it started, he was disgusted that one of the teachers would abuse the trust of one of his students for something like that. "Ok Naruto, what happened next?"

"Well, hehe" Naruto started chuckling "you should remember the next part Jiiji, I got in here, and knocked you out with my Oiroke no Jutsu." Naruto couldn't help but grin at that, he couldn't believe that the Hokage, the most powerful ninja in the village, had been taken out with his own original anti-pervert technique. As his chuckling stopped he decided to continue "but anyways, the next thing I did was I grabbed that scroll, and took off, I found my way to where Mizuki-teme said to meet him , but 'cause he wasn't there yet, I decided to take a look inside the scroll, and saw it was full of jutsu."

"Naruto, before you continue, I want to tell you, that you are hereby forbidden from speaking about how you got the scroll, and I'm also going to have you write everything you know about that technique into the forbidden scroll."

"You just want to know how to do it yourself don't you Jiiji" Naruto accused jokingly, while narrowing his eyes at the old man.

"No Naruto, that technique is obviously dangerous, as it was able to defeat me so easily, the fact is that there are a great many talented shinobi in this village that would fall prey to that technique, and as such, I am labeling it a forbidden technique." At this Naruto cracked a small smirk _I wonder just how many perverts I could use this on to beat?_

"Ok Jiiji, you win, I'll write it down in the scroll, but I'm not going to never use it again, what happens if I'm fighting some super pervert or something, and that's my best chance for beating him?"

"Fine Naruto, I won't forbid you from using it, but under no circumstances are you to go around teaching it to people. Now please continue with the story." This caused Naruto to become downcast again as he began speaking again.

"Ok, well I opened the scroll, and the first thing I saw was another stupid clone technique, and because I always sucked at those I decided to look a bit more, but they all seemed so complicated, I just went back to it, and started trying to learn it…" The Hokage's jaw dropped at this, wondering just how far Naruto had managed to get on that jutsu, after all it was a Jōnin level technique. "… after a little while Iruka-sensei showed up and started yelling at me for stealing the scroll, and when I told him Mizuki-teme told me about it, he started freaking out. Then all of a sudden Mizuki-teme showed up and started attacking us." Naruto took a deep breath and seeing that the Hokage was about to interrupt him, he decided to finish the story, because he figured that if he stopped talking, he wouldn't be able to finish telling him the story.

"So then, Iruka-sensei told me to run and get away from the fight, which I did, but pretty soon Mizuki-teme caught up with me again, and he managed to get Iruka-sensei with a couple kunai" At this point some tears started to flow from Naruto's eyes, remembering his Sensei getting all those wounds protecting him. "Then Mizuki-t-teme told m-me about the Kyūbi inside of m-me and called me a d-d-demon, and th-then he said that even Iruka-sensei hated me." By this point Naruto was barely holding himself together, as he was gritting his teeth trying to hold back the as many tears as he could as he was gripping tightly at his pants. "And the n-next thing I knew, he was throwing one of his giant shuriken at me, and I couldn't even move, but th-then, Iruka-sensei was there, and he, he got hit in the back with it, he told me that I wasn't a demon, and that the villagers were wrong about me… he told me that I was being a hero, keeping them safe everyday just by keeping the Kyūbi inside me." Naruto could no longer hold back the tears, as they began flowing steadily down his face, dripping onto the floor in front of him.

"Then Mizuki-teme was insulting Iruka-sensei, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I used the new technique I learned and created like a thousand clones, and kicked the teme's…" by this point Hiruzen Sarutobi, couldn't hold back his shock, an academy student, using the Kage Bunshin, an academy student creating a thousand clones, he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

"You learnt the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in one night!? And then you made a thousand clones?! That's impossible Naruto, not even the Yondaime learnt it that quicky…. How did you manage that so easily, and how are you not dead from chakra exhaustion?"

The Sarutobi was skeptical at the thought of it, a genin, mastering a jōnin level technique in under an hour, it was unheard of.

Naruto was surprised by the Sandaime's reaction, after all it wasn't that difficult to learn, but upon hearing that he had mastered a Jōnin level technique, he was pulled out of his depressed slump, he wasn't bouncing around, but he'd probably do that later _"Ha, take that everyone, the class 'dobe' mastered a forbidden Jōnin level technique, and didn't even get in trouble for it!"_

"Actually Jiiji, I was kinda shocked how easy it was, I mean I've always sucked at the academy bunshin, and no matter how much chakra I pumped into them they'd always turn out sickly, but with these, I barely needed to use any chakra and they turned out awesome!"

By now Sarutobi's mind was searching for some way to explain this occurrence, _"The only thing that would make sense is if the boy has an impossibly high chackra reserve- BAKA, oh kami, how did I not realize before, as an Uzumaki he was bound to have abnormaly high chakra reserves, and on top of that he does have a demon that is essentially a giant mass of chakra sealed inside of him… wait, if he's got that much chakra, then there's something else I need to test."_

"Ok Naruto, I think I know why you've been having so much trouble with the academy jutsu's, but before I explain, I would like you to perform the three standard academy jutsu."

Naruto was a bit confused, but he slowly made his way to his feet with the Hokage, who walked around his desk to stand in front of Naruto. "Alright Naruto, I want you to try use the henge no jutsu to look like the scroll, can you do that Naruto?"

Naruto was surprised he was being asked to do something so simple so he quickly went through handsigns, "Henge no Jutsu" Sarutobi was shocked when the puff of smoke cleared, and he was staring down at an exact duplicate of the villages Forbidden Scroll, he reached down, and slowly picked up the scroll examining it, with a shocked expression on his face. He placed the scroll back on the ground and asked Naruto to return to normal, and with a puff of smoke Naruto was back.

"_It seems like my suspicions may by correct"_

"Ok Naruto, I would now like you to use the Kawarimi no Jutsu to replace yourself with me." Hiruzen made sure he spoke calmly, so as not to suggest something may be unusual about his request"

Naruto once again surprised by the odd request, went through the necessary hand signs, "Kawarimi no Jutsu" he was once again engulfed in a small puff of smoke, and when the Hokage looked up, he saw Naruto leaning against his desk smiling slightly, _"Well that answers that, he was able to switch places with me, the only people able to do that should be the other Kage's"_

"Very good Naruto, now please, the bunshin."

At this point Naruto began to feel worried, _"Noo, why does Jiiji need to see the bunshin, I've never been able to do that one"_ Naruto in a very downcast manner, went through the hand seals, "Bunshin no Jutsu" to Naruto's dismay, a pair of sickly looking clones appeared at his feet, looking thoroughly dejected, he dispelled the clones, and turned to look up at the aging Hokage, surprised to see him with a large smile on his face.

"Now Naruto if you would please, show me the Kage Bunshin, just show me how many you can make in this room." He was positive that his assumptions were right, he just couldn't resist the opportunity seeing this would give him to praise his surrogate grandson, he knew how much the boy suffered, and wished he could have done more, but he knew the praise would help the boy out.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"

All of a sudden the room was filled with a plume of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, the Hokage couldn't hold the shocked expression off of his face, surrounding him, literally wall to wall, were Naruto's, he even saw some on top of his shelves, and saw them all squirming for room.

By this point in time, the Hokage was beaming, he was immensely proud of Naruto. "Naruto dispel them and have a seat again, I'd like to talk to you about your techniques."

Naruto was a bit worried about this, but seeing his surrogate grandfather's smile told him that at least he wasn't in trouble, so he dispelled the clones, feeling a small headache coming on and settled down in the chair in front of the desk.

"Well, well, well Naruto today has proved to be a very interesting day hasn't it? First you steal a forbidden scroll, then you stop a traitor, and now I find you've mastered 3 Jōnin level techniques before graduating the academy, if it wasn't for the fact that the graduation exams were over, I'd probably have to make you rookie of the year, sadly, it's too late for that…"

"Jiiji, what do you mean 3 Jōnin techniques, 2 of them were just the academy ones?" To say Naruto was slightly confused was an understatement, but thankfully, he saw the Hokage was still smiling, and he had a feeling that he'd find out what the Hokage meant.

"Naruto, those 2 are academy techniques, but you've been using them at a Jōnin level, if you paid more attention in class you'd know that the Henge is supposed to be a genjutsu, and just make you appear as something else, what you've been doing is actually a full transformation technique, which makes it Jōnin level, and as for your Kawarimi, normally somebody your age shouldn't be able to even switch themselves with another person, the fact that you could switch places with me means your chakra reserves surpass even mine, and I'm the Hokage…"

"But Jiiji, if I've got so much chakra, how come I can't even do the Bunshin?"

"That's simple Naruto, you just have too much chakra for it, your clones always turn out sickly, because they are overcharged and the amount of chakra you put into them quite literally kills them." The Hokage couldn't help but smirk at the young blonde's expression, the boy was opening and closing his mouth trying to figure out something to say, but the words were obviously eluding him.

"Now Naruto, I need to tell you something about the Kage Bunshin that should help you with your training over the next three months before we have the genin team announcements."

Now that Naruto had gotten his mouth to stop opening and closing, he looked back at his surrogate grandfather, _"I wonder what my super cool jutsu can do, I've gotta get really strong before I get on my team, I hope it'll help." _Naruto thought desperately.

"Naruto there are two reasons the Kage Bunshin is a forbidden technique, the first being that it requires a lot of chakra to use efficiently, in fact it requires so much that most shinobi under the rank of Jōnin can't even create 2 without passing out from chakra exhaustion. The second is because of the mental and physical stress it causes on the user."

"Do you mean that's why my head hurts a bit after I use it Jiiji, cause I was wondering about that?"

"Yes Naruto, the Kage Bunshin causes mental stress, because everything your clones experience gets transferred to you."

"Huh?"

Sighing slightly at the boys confusion, he spoke again, "Naruto what I mean is that when your clones learn something you learn it too, and before you interrupt me asking what I mean let me just give you a demonstration, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" with that an exact duplicate appeared next to the Hokage, and the clone instructed Naruto to create a clone as well.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"

"Ok Naruto, now our clones are going to step out of the room for a moment and then dispel, I think that'll help you understand what I mean." The Sandaime was smirking at the look of confusion on Naruto's face as he watched the clones leave the room, and a second later, he felt his head tingle.

"Jiiji, when're we getting that rame- wait, how do I know you said you'd buy my ramen…"

The Aging Hokage just stood there waiting for Naruto to figure it out, and after a few minutes, he saw Naruto's face light up. "Oh I get it, so if my clones learn something I can learn it too, aww man, this is gonna be so awesome, I'm going to get so strong with this stuff, just you wait old man, I'll get that hat from you sooner that you think -ttebayo."

Naruto had a giant grin plastered across his face at the thought of sitting behind the Hokage desk in the robes and hat, and got more and more excited at the idea of being the one handing out orders and having everyone respect him.

Meanwhile, the Hokage was chuckling, "Well Naruto, I'm sure you will get strong, but before you go running off I've still got more to tell you about the technique." This got Naruto's attention, and he dropped right back into the chair he hadn't even realized he had sat up from.

"Naruto the main reason this technique is so dangerous is because each of your clones is technically you, so whatever they experience you experience, but the danger comes from the fact that because they are all you, whenever they dispel, you also get all the exhaustion they've experienced, so it's a very physically draining technique, so as good as it is for training, you have to make sure you give yourself time to heal after using it, and also Naruto, physical training will exhaust your clones, but if you have your clones using weights and everything, it'll tire them out, but you won't get the effects of the weights, so any body conditioning you still have to do yourself."

Naruto was a bit downcast at this, knowing that he'd have to be the one running around with weights, but he quickly decided that it didn't matter much, cause he'd just have his clones working on his taijutsu katas, and his ninjutsu, so when he got rid of the clones he'd be way better at everything.

"Ok, but Jiiji, where can I go to learn more stuff, I mean, most of the academy teachers hated me, and Iruka is in the hospital, so where can I go to learn more stuff?"

The Hokage sat there for a few minutes, thinking over Naruto's question, he continually cursed the elders of the council forbidding him from giving Naruto his inheritance, from the Uzumaki clan, he would have to find some way around that, but the only way that would happen is if Naruto asked him for them first, and with the boy knowing nothing of his clan, that wasn't going to happen, when suddenly an idea popped into his head.

"Well Naruto, you should head to the shinobi library, they have hundreds of Jutsu, though as a genin you'll only be eligible for E and D rank ninjutsu scrolls, but they have scrolls on all sorts of things from Taijutsu, to Kenjutsu, Genjutsu, and even some minor Fuinjutsu, and now that you have your hitai-ate, it is impossible for them to bar you entrance. There are even the Shinobi record inside that will tell you about all the ninja who ever served Konoha."

The Sandaime couldn't help but smirk in his mind at this, he knew that Naruto would jump at this opportunity, even if the boy didn't like reading, the thoughts of all those techniques, would override his dislike for studying, and with the mention of the shinobi records, the boy would without a doubt search through the records, for some sort of family, especially since he told the boy years ago that his parents had been shinobi who died in service of the village.

Naruto was in deep thought by now, _"Maybe the old man is messing with me, I mean, going to the library to get stronger? Sounds crazy, maybe his age is getting to him. I guess I could send some clones to look is there's any cool stuff there, and maybe the records could tell me something about my parents, I mean Jiiji did say they were shinobi… Ok, I'll go look at the library for some cool techniques."_

"Say Old man, what do you think I should look for in the library?"

"Well off the top of my head, I'd say you need to get a book on chakra control, and maybe look into some shinobi tactics, and if you're serious about taking my hat someday, you should look into some history books as well as some of the shinobi laws, because you need to know all that to be Hokage-"

"But Jiiji, that's all so boring"

"Well then why don't you make your clones do the reading, while you go train, it's all information you should know, so if it's to tedious to do yourself then just send your clones to do it."

Naruto thought about it for a minute, and decided that if he had to know it, he might as well put the clones to use, and make them study the boring stuff, and he could go do some cool training. _"Wait a minute, if I can just do that, then why don't any other shinobi use clones to do all that stupid boring stuff?"_

"Hey Jiiji, if I can use my clones for that, then why don't you just use them to do all that paperwork, that's what I'll do when I'm Hokage, I don't want to be sitting around all day when I can be off showing everyone how badass I am – ttebayo."

"…"

"…"

"…"

The Hokage couldn't believe what he'd just heard… _"Was this your secret Minato, how could I have been so blind not to see it… I don't care what his grades say, Minato, Kushina, your boy is a genius."_ After a few minutes of awkward silence, he got his face under control, and looked up at Naruto in awe, the you blonde had just given him the secret to defeat the one great enemy of all the Kage's the secret method of challenging the Kage's bane that only Konoha's Yondaime had ever been able to defeat, paperwork…

"Naruto, you don't know what you've just done for me."

Naruto was confused, the old man was tearing up, with an impossibly happy smile on his face.

"Naruto for the service you have just done me, you deserve a gift, before you get your team assignments, I'm going to take you out equipment shopping, to get you some new shinobi tools and clothes, but for now, get some sleep and tomorrow morning I'll take you to see Iruka, we can grab some ramen, and I'll buy you a set of chakra weights to help out with your training."

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And we're done, I hope you enjoyed it, I'm going to upload a chapter every week if I can.

So anyways, please leave a review, constructive criticism is always welcome.

FeJazz


	2. Chapter 2 - A New Day

Hey everyone, the second chapter is up, I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews, as well as the encouragement. I'll do my best not to let you down. I really liked some of the suggestions I got, and I think I'm going to use one or two of them, if you want to know which ones you're just going to have to keep reading though. Anyways, please read and review, this is as I mentioned my first fan fic, so any suggestions are more than welcome.

Also, just in case you guys were wondering, I in fact don't own Naruto, sorry but Kishimoto still does.

Now without further ado I present to you, chapter 2.

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"Naruto" - Person Speaking

_"Naruto" _- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

_**"Naruto"** _- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 2 – A New Day**

Naruto was enjoying one of the best nights of sleep he had had in what felt like forever, he was having dreams of how strong he'd become, he saw himself mastering every jutsu, and having the old man tell him that he was the strongest, and as such he should be the one wearing the hat. He even dreamt of Sakura-chan, and how she'd finally realise how awesome he was once he beat that teme Sasuke. However, his happy dreams weren't going to last, seeing as the Hokage's assistant had just walked into the office where Naruto had spent the night.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!"

Naruto shot off the couch, clutching his ears, and found himself falling face first into the floor. After slowly sitting up, he looked to find the source of the noise, and saw the old man's secretary looking down at him.

"Oh, hey Chizuru-san, sorry Jiiji said I could sleep here last night, hehe." Naruto was scratching the back of his head as he explained a little of his talk with the secretary, despite her yelling, he knew that the old man's secretary didn't hate him, sure he knew she got annoyed with him sometimes, but she at least saw him as a person.

"Well then Uzumaki-san, I'd suggest that because you're here, you could help me carry in the first of the day's paperwork?"

"Sure thing Chizuru-san, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Ok guys, you heard Chizuru-san, get that paperwork in here for Jiiji."

"You got it boss!"

The Hokage's secretary didn't know how to react to what she had just seen, she decided to shrug off the young shinobi's antics, and was back to herself helping the all 10 Naruto's organize the paperwork for the Hokage. _"I know Sandaime-sama is going to get upset when he sees all this paperwork"_

Naruto and Chizuru chatted for a couple minutes as the clones brought in the last of the paperwork, well, Naruto chatted about all the cool things he was hoping to learn, while Chizuru listened. Soon it was around 9 in the morning, and the aging Hokage strolled into the room. He saw Naruto and his long-time secretary Chizuru chatting, and then his eyes fell upon the recently placed mountain of paperwork sitting on his desk. _"Well, well, well, it seems that we meet again my dreaded mortal enemy, yesterday I would have nearly cried seeing you piled so high, but I now know your weakness, you shall never darken my dreams again HAHAHA."_

"Good morning Chizuru-san, Naruto."

"Morning Jiiji"

Chizuru was confused, she had seen the Hokage's eyes when he looked at his paperwork, and couldn't believe what she had seen, _"What's going on? He doesn't even look fazed by the paperwork, and I know for a fact it's more than double what was there yesterday…"_ However she realized that she hadn't even responded to the Hokage's greeting yet and quickly composed herself. "Good morning Hokage-sama, is there anything you need this morning, or would you prefer I just let you get started?"

The Hokage's couldn't help but grin wider when he realized what caused his secretaries confusion, and decided to play it up a bit, "Well I wouldn't mind some tea to start off the day, as well as a glass of milk for Naruto, we have some things planned for today, and we'd like to be off as soon as possible."

Now his secretaries face was in shock, the Hokage was planning on leaving the office with all the paperwork piled on his desk, she nodded dumbly and decided she needed to get her thoughts straight, maybe the Hokage was just feeling a bit under the weather today, after all, what else could explain his planning to leave the office right after he arrived.

Naruto watched the secretary leave, and didn't really understand her expression, so as soon as she had left the office and closed the door he turned to the Hokage, "Jiiji, what was with Chizuru, I mean she's usually really strict, but she looked kinda weird when she just left?"

"Well Naruto, Chizuru has been my secretary for a long time, almost 6 years now actually, and for the first time the paperwork didn't even bother me, so she's probably just shocked by this, but don't let that trouble you Naruto." The Hokage was chuckling by now, "Anyhow, after Chizuru-san gets back with some tea, and milk, we'll head out and I'll treat you to breakfast before picking you up some chakra weights, and showing you the shinobi library."

This brought Naruto's attention back around, and though he was excited for getting the chakra weights, he still wasn't looking forward to the library, _"Sure, I mean, I'm not personally going to be reading all those stupid history books, and law stuff, but I'm still gonna have to remember all of it, maybe I'll do what Jiiji suggested, and get a book on chakra control or something like that, and have a bunch of clones working on that. At least that way I'll get a bit stronger with them…" _Naruto left his interior monologue to see the Hokage standing at the window, smiling while looking out over the city.

"What're you looking at Jiiji?"

Sarutobi was just enjoying the peaceful morning, and was musing over what he should do with all the time he was going to have to himself again now that he wouldn't have to spend every minute of every day behind those piles of paperwork, and turned away from the window at Naruto's question.

"I have been debating what I should do with my time now that thanks to your idea I don't have to be behind that desk all day, I was thinking about spending more time visiting the academy, and maybe just spending more time walking around the village, and talking with the civilians, but I still feel like if I don't have a lot to do, I'll just end up back here, doing paperwork…"

"Well Jiiji, why don't you train more then? I mean, I know you're supposed to be the strongest and everything 'cause you're Hokage, but that doesn't mean you can't get stronger does it?"

The Hokage was slightly shocked at the idea, once again wondering how he hadn't thought of it, sure he was getting close to 70, but back in his youth he had been dubbed Kami no Shinobi, he had been considered the strongest Hokage, and as much as he hated to admit it, he had grown weaker over the years. Just remembering the last time he had summoned Enma, they had been talking about how long it had been since they had a fight, or even just a spar. _"Well it couldn't hurt to get back in a state where I can fight again, I won't be able to get back to my prime, but what I lack in vitality, I could make up for in experience… There's no downside I can see, and I have always regretted letting my condition slide, and now that I don't have to worry about the paperwork, there isn't anything that will be in my way."_

"Thank you for that Naruto, I think I'll follow your suggestion, after all, it wouldn't be good for the village if their Hokage was seen as getting weak would it?"

Naruto didn't' respond, he just smiled up at his surrogate grandfather, glad that he could be of help again, so they just both turned to the window again, and waited in silence for a few minutes, being quiet wasn't Naruto's favourite way of spending time, but he decided to use this time to figure out how he wanted to use his clones for the next little while, at least while they were in the library, so the silence continued for several minutes until it was broken by a knock on the office door.

"Come in Chizuru." Naruto and the Hokage turned around and watched as Chizuru walked in bowed briefly and then turned to make her way out, as she got to the door however, the Hokage spoke again, "Thank you Chizuru, could you make sure my schedule is clear till the afternoon, I'll be back in briefly then to make sure everything is alright."

"Of course Hokage-sama, if that's what you would like." Chizuru was almost sure of it, the Hokage must be feeling ill if he was going to go through with his plan of leaving all the paperwork behind, but sighing slightly she figured that he would make up for it the next day, even if he had to come in early, she barely noticed Naruto's thanks, and merely waved a hand at him, to show it wasn't a worry, then she made her way to her desk outside the office and sat down, and got to her own paperwork.

Back inside the office, the elder man, and the young boy were enjoying their drinks and discussing where to go for breakfast, because it was rare for them to spend much time together, Naruto of course being Naruto suggested Ichiraku Ramen, which the Hokage shot down.

"Naruto, I know how much you love ramen, but you need to eat more healthy foods as well, you're won't get all the nutrition you need if you only eat ramen."

"But Jiiji, ramen is the food of the gods, how can you say I'm not getting everything I need, I'm great, and I've never gotten sick from eating ramen?"

"Naruto, you don't have to stop eating ramen, but if you want to be a strong shinobi you need to eat healthier, and if being healthy isn't enough, I can promise you adding some variety to what you eat, and eating healthier won't hurt you're growth, if you don't have variety in what you eat, you're not getting all the nutritional value you should, and that makes it take longer for you to grow."

At this Naruto's objections were cut off, his height was a sore spot for him, he really didn't like how he was one of the shortest people in his class, and he quickly if extremely dejectedly decided that if he had to give up ramen a couple days a week to help him get taller then he would. "Ok Jiiji, you win no ramen… but if we're not going to Ichiraku's, where are we gonna go, not a lot of places let me in, cause of the k-Kyūbi…"

Sarutobi sighed at this; he hated how the villagers would get around his law regarding Naruto containing the Kyūbi, and how he would be kicked out of a lot of the shops in Konoha…

"Well don't worry about that Naruto, you're with me today, and nowhere in the village would they dare turn you away when you're with me, so that's not an issue, and when we go get your weights I'll take you to a store that an old friend of mine owns, I know that they'll be more than happy for your business.

"Really Jiiji? That'll be awesome, ok let's go then."

"One minute Naruto, I still need to do my paperwork. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"

With a puff of smoke, 4 clones of the Hokage went behind the desk and started dividing up the paperwork, "Now remember, once I'm gone, put up a privacy barrier, so this stays a secret, we can't have Naruto's idea leaked out to everyone can we? Also make sure you read every single report, we can do that now, if you need to you can each create another clone, but make sure that my the time I get back that we're at least halfway through all these piles." After addressing the clones, the Hokage led Naruto out of the office, and closed the door behind them. The Hokage couldn't help but smirk again as he said his farewells to his secretary again, and made his way out of the tower.

Out in the streets of Konoha, the Hokage and Naruto were making their way to a small family owned restaurant that the Hokage had frequented often during the time where the Yondaime had reigned, he hadn't been there in a little over a year now, seeing as it was rare for him to have any spare time in the mornings, but he had told Naruto that it was a very nice restaurant focusing on cuisine from all across the elemental nations, even having some dishes that originated outside of the elemental nations. Needless to say Naruto was excited at the prospect of all the new food he could try, and he figured that if the people who owned the restaurant were friends with his surrogate grandfather, that they might let him come back on his own as well. He'd have to remember to ask the old man if he could do anything about it.

As they were walking the Hokage could see the stares the villagers were directing at Naruto, he couldn't understand how the village could look at Naruto this way, the Yondaime Hokage was regarded as a hero, he was one of the most talented shinobi to ever be born, he couldn't understand how the village could have placed so much faith in his skills during his life, and how they could have so little faith in the seal he designed for Naruto. _"Minato, you must be rolling over in your grave watching how the villagers are going against your last wish, if you or Kushina were still here this never would have happened… I'm sorry I've failed you both so completely when it comes to your son."_ The Hokage glanced towards Naruto, and he saw the look in Naruto's eyes, he knew Naruto had noticed the stares he received, and he couldn't deny that he was worried how the boy would react now that he knew the reason behind the stares.

Naruto was deep in thought, he finally knew why the villagers all hated him, and it only strengthened his resolve to get their acknowledgement, _"Just you wait, I'm going to be the most kickass ninja you've ever seen, then you will all have to acknowledge me –ttebayo." _ Naruto noticed that the Hokage was watching him with a worried expression, and turned to the old man and smiled.

"Don't worry Jiiji, I can ignore them, I've been doing it as long as I can remember, let's just get some food, I'm starving."

The old man could tell that the boy was hiding his true emotions, but he sighed knowing that it was the blondes way of coping, he understood that it was also the reason the boy would play all the pranks he did, the boy just wanted some attention, and even if it wasn't good attention, any attention was better than the hate filled glares he usually received.

Making one more turn the Hokage led Naruto through the entryway of a nice looking restaurant called Yaoke Shokudō, Naruto was slightly apprehensive walking in, but seeing the surprised and happy looks the old man was getting he figured he'd be fine. He still noticed some of the diners giving him looks, but paid them no mind.

"Hokage-sama, good morning, it's great to see you, you visited us in ages!" Naruto looked up, and saw a man who looked a bit older than Iruka walk up to the Hokage and bow to him.

"Ah, hello Kenji-san, is your father in this morning, I'd like to talk to him if he had some free time?"

Naruto just watched the two adults talk, and noticed that though the younger of the two men gave him a look, it wasn't filled with hate, more so just curiosity, so he decided he'd give the man the benefit of the doubt for now.

"Of course he's here Hokage-sama, I'll go grab him for you, but for now, you and your guest can take a seat, we have a few tables open, so feel free to seat yourself and I'll be right back with my old man." And with a smirk the man was off, and the Hokage was leading Naruto to a table near the front window.

"Hey Jiiji, who was that, I thought you said an old friend of yours owned this place... that guy was maybe a couple years older than Iruka-sensei?"

"Ah, yes you are right Naruto, that was Yaoke Kenji, his father Rōjin owns this restaurant, and don't worry, Rōjin-san is almost as old as I am."

At this time Naruto noticed the man named Kenji come back out from the back of the restaurant with an old man, who Naruto could only assume was Rōjin.

"Hiruzen, how've you been doing?" Naruto was shocked at this, he'd heard a few people call the Hokage by his last name before, but they always used honorifics at least, this guy must be a really old friend to just call the Hokage by his first name.

"Rōjin, it is good to see you, it has been a while." The Hokage was smiling warmly at the other old man. "By the way Rōjin, Kenji, this is Uzumaki Naruto, I was taking him out for breakfast, and found he'd never been here before, so I took the liberty to bring him along, I've spoken very highly of your food."

At this the two men looked at Naruto, and surprising Naruto they smiled at him, "Hello Uzumaki-san, I'm Kenji, and this is my father's restaurant."

"It is nice to meet you Uzumaki-san, any friend of Hiruzen's is a friend of mine, and is always welcome in my restaurant."

Naruto's shock at these greetings were clearly plastered on his face, _"…what?" _Naruto took a minute to figure out that he was supposed to respond and somewhat shakily turned to the two men. "Umm, thanks, it's nice to meet you as well…" Still in a state of something near shock, Naruto wasn't paying attention to what the three adults were talking about, until once again Kenji turned back to him.

"So Uzumaki-san, have you decided what you'd like to have?" At this Naruto was slightly shocked, he hadn't even realized he'd opened the menu, he certainly hadn't been reading it.

"I think Naruto will have the extra-large breakfast special." At this Naruto looked up at the Hokage, and slowly nodded.

"Ya… Sure, I'll have what Jiiji suggested… ummm could I also get some milk too?"

"Of course Uzumaki-san, I'll be back with your drink in a minute, your meal will take a little longer, so just ask me if you need anything."

Naruto just nodded dumbly again, and started fiddling with his hands. He wasn't really paying any attention to the conversation the two old men were having, he picked up bits, but it seemed like they were just talking about when they were both young, something he had noticed that all older people tended to do.

"Well it was nice to meet you again Uzumaki-san, but I should really get back into the kitchen, I just want you to know that you're always welcome in here. Enjoy your meal Uzumaki-san, Hiruzen."

Naruto waited another minute or so after the man left before turning back to his surrogate grandfather, "Ok Jiiji, what's with those two, why're they being all nice to me?"

The Hokage sighed at this, not really blaming the boy for his distrust, "Naruto, Rōjin is a very old friend of mine, and I have known his son Kenji since the day he was born, you have nothing to worry about from them. I'm positive that they'll accept you just as much as Teuchi and Ayame do. So I'd recommend just enjoying your meal, and if you enjoy it, I'd recommend you come back, and get to know them some more."

Naruto and the Hokage spent the rest of their time at the restaurant talking about Naruto's training; the Hokage even came up with an idea to help convince Naruto to take the readings he suggested seriously. Because Naruto had been told not to eat ramen all the time, the old man had decided that at the end of each week he would buy Naruto a bowl of ramen from Ichiraku for every book he read. Naruto wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the agreement, he was unhappy he'd only get ramen once a week, but on the other hand, he figured with his clones he'd be able to read easily 20 books a week, though he wasn't happy that the Hokage said he would be tested on his knowledge of the books by Iruka-sensei. But seeing as Naruto had never been one to go back on an agreement, he decided he'd just have to make the most out of it, and he figured it wouldn't be a bad thing to get smarter.

After the two finished their meals which the Hokage insisted on paying for as long as Naruto promised to work hard on his training, they left to visit Iruka in the hospital. All in all Naruto had been enjoying the day so far, it was nearly noon, they were just getting to the hospital, the Hokage and Naruto made their way to Iruka's room, and after being invited in after knocking, the two made their way inside.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto, what are you two doing here?"

"Good day, Iruka-san, how are you feeling?"

"Yeah, you ok Iruka-sensei?"

"I'm fine Naruto, Hokage-sama, thank you both for your concern. So how are you doing Naruto, are you feeling ok after what you went through last night?"

Naruto felt his eyes water at that, Iruka was one of the few people who had acknowledged him, and had gotten pretty badly injured during Mizuki's attempt to steal the scroll, and he was asking how he was feeling? _"I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, if I was a better ninja neither of us would've gotten hurt."_ Naruto held back his watering eyes, and just told Iruka that he was fine.

Though Iruka could tell that Naruto was still having trouble dealing with everything he had learnt he decided not to pressure the young blonde into speaking about it until he was comfortable with it. So Iruka decided to lie back, and let Naruto talk, he was surprised when Naruto told him about the Jutsu's he'd been using at the academy, and apologized to the boy for not noticing the cause of his issues himself, and continued cursing himself for the next little while, as Naruto went into talking about the training he was going to do for the next few months. He was shocked to hear that Naruto was going to study the shinobi history and laws, but he readily agreed to test Naruto at the end of each week on his knowledge. He was even more shocked to hear that Naruto was only going to eat ramen once a week. The idea of Naruto eating food other than ramen was hard to imagine but he was mentally praising the Hokage for his ingenious method of convincing Naruto not to cheat on his healthier diet by offering to buy him the ramen himself.

He was also very pleased to hear that Naruto was planning on working on chakra control, because after finding out how much chakra the blonde had he figured it would take him a lot of work to get his control up. Sadly for the visiting group, due to the fact that Iruka's injuries weren't fully recovered a nurse broke up the groups visit after an hour or so, and though she apologized profusely to the Hokage for having to ask them to leave, she still did insist.

As the two were about to leave, Naruto turned around in the doorway and Iruka could see the boy was holding back tears for some reason, "I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, I promise I'll get stronger, so you don't get hurt protecting me again, I'll get strong enough to make you proud of me."

Iruka was stunned by this, he knew that Naruto would be upset over everything he had found out, but this was more than Iruka would stand for. "Naruto, it's not your fault I got hurt, I'm a shinobi, it's in the job description, so don't worry about it, and I look forward to you getting stronger, but you should know I'm already very proud of you for how far you've come."

This being more than Naruto wanted to deal with at the moment, prompted him to quickly turn around and exit the room following after the Hokage.

It was now in the early afternoon and Naruto was following as the Hokage led towards the shinobi library. After his discussion with Iruka he was feeling oddly reflective. "Hey Jiiji, do you think I can become a great shinobi someday?"

"What do you mean Naruto?"

"Well, if I was really as awesome of a ninja as I say I am, Iruka-sensei wouldn't have gotten hurt, so I am going to have to get stronger so that I'll be able to protect everybody important to me, so do you think I could ever become a great shinobi like the Yondaime?" At this the Hokage could only think of how proud the young blonde's parents would be of their son. _"It seems like Naruto is finally taking his ninja career seriously. Minato, Kushina, you would be so proud of how much your son has grown."_

"Naruto, I believe that one day you could be one of the most powerful shinobi in the entire world, you just have to remember that you will only ever get as strong as you want if you have something precious to you that you are getting stronger to protect."

"What do you mean something precious to protect Jiiji?"

"Naruto, every truly great ninja has something, or someone that is precious to them to protect. It is for their precious people that they get stronger, just look at the Yondaime, he gave his life to protect this village, because this village was precious to him. If you want to become truly strong you need to have something or someone to protect."

Naruto was silent for a few minutes, trying to think of people that were precious to him, _"Well I know I'd want to protect the people from Ichiraku; Teuchi and Ayame, then there's Iruka-sensei, he's already gotten hurt 'cause I wasn't strong enough, and even if Jiiji is really strong, I don't want him getting hurt… maybe one day I can be like the Yondaime and fight for everyone in the village… that sounds something I'd like doing, standing up for everyone, even the people who have treated me bad, what better way is there to show them that I'm not a monster."_ With this, Naruto's resolve to become stronger was reaffirmed, and he turned back to his surrogate grandfather.

"Jiiji, one day I'm going to be like the Yondaime, one day I'll be the one to protect this village, then everyone will have to acknowledge me." Naruto had a bright smile plastered on his face again, not the smile he wore to mask his pain, but a true smile, showing the passion and conviction he had in is words.

The Hokage was beaming at the boy, "I know you will Naruto, now let's get to the library, and then you can get started on your work."

The two made the rest of the trip to the library in silence, and once they arrived the Hokage took a moment to show Naruto around, and asked him to come by the office at the end of the day to pick up the weights he had promised to buy the boy. Naruto was a bit disappointed that the old man would be leaving him at the library, but before he left he found Naruto a book on chakra control, and suggested he set a dozen clones to reading through what they'd discussed earlier, and he could go and work on chakra control himself.

Naruto had finally finished browsing through the library and decided it was time that he get out of there and start working on his chakra control. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" after the smoke caused by the technique died down, and he was yelled at by the librarian for yelling in the library, which Naruto found kind of silly, he turned back to face the 30 clones he had just created. "Ok men, you're going to break up into 3 groups, 15 of you are going to read in the shinobi history section, 14 are going to be reading up on the laws, and you," he said pointing at one clone in the centre of the bunch, "are going to be reading up on the shinobi records. You all know what is at stake if you don't take this seriously and we'll end up suffering from a case of ramen deficit disorder, so get to work, and try not to bug the librarian, so no yelling."

"You got it boss!" All the clones chanted back in restrained voices.

After leaving his clones back in the library Naruto decided to head to training ground 41, he'd come across it back in his early academy days, and had been looking for a private place to practice, it was a essentially a small clearing in one of the forests inside the village walls, there were a few training posts in the centre, and there was a relatively small body of water just outside the clearing. Sadly when had stumbled into a few shinobi training, and they had told him that the training area could only be used by shinobi, but now he was able to use it, and no one could say anything against it.

Naruto arrived in the clearing and found it empty, he decided he'd do a quick stretch, and a warm up run, and then get started, so he summoned a clone to start reading up the chakra control exercises. After doing his stretches and 2 laps around the clearing he walked back towards the clone, and dispelled it, after feeling the rush of info, he quickly became frustrated that the clone hadn't even gotten beyond the books introduction, so he sat down himself, and spent the next 20 minutes reading through the first chapter, and though he was disheartened, at learning the first exercise was the leaf balancing exercise from the academy, he decided if he was going to do the work from the book, he would do it properly. He quickly created 200 clones and instructed them to grab leaves and work on keeping them stuck to their foreheads, and once they were done that, they were to work on spinning them.

After instructing the clones he summoned another clone to help him with the workouts he was going to be doing. Deciding that he might go easy if he just did what he felt was ok, he instructed the clone to come up with the most brutal workout that he would be able to do, and after a few minutes, the clone instructor, directed him to do 5 sets of 200 push ups, 200 sit ups, 100 chin ups, 100 squats, and 100 lunges, followed by 100 punches each hand, and 100 kicks each foot. Each set would be followed by 5 laps around the training area. After hearing this Naruto cursed his clone, and dispelled him with a punch to the face, which he quickly regretted getting the memory of how the punch felt back.

"Oww, damn, maybe don't attack my own clones, it only ends up hurting me… Well anyways, I guess I should get started if I'm going to be able to drop by the Hokage tower before it gets too late, after all I'm still going to need dinner." At this Naruto began his training. It was around the start of the 3rd set that he was once again cursing his clone, and realized that he didn't have any food at his house besides ramen, and started panicking about what he was going to do until he came up with the idea of getting a clone to go buy groceries for him after using a the Henge no Jutsu. After sending off the now disguised Naruto clone with instructions to buy "Healthy stuff" he grudgingly got back to work.

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Bam, done chapter 2, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I know there wasn't really much super exciting stuff, but this chapter was more about Naruto growing as a person, anyhow, I'm already underway into chapter 3, so that'll be up in a few days.

So, please leave a review if you enjoyed, or have suggestions about where you'd like to see this story go.

Thank's for reading everyone,

**~FeJazz**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Road to Strength

Hey Guys, third chapter is up, I'm sorry it took so much longer than I said it would. This past week was my last week of classes before exams, so there was the typical end of year rush making sure all my work was submitted. Anyhow, I know you guys don't want to hear about all my university troubles, so I'll just say that I really appreciate all the positive feedback I've gotten from everyone, and as always, please leave a review if you liked it, or if you have any suggestions of what you'd like to see happen in this story.

So now without further ado, I present to you, chapter 3.

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"Naruto" - Person Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 3 – The Road to Strength**

Naruto woke up with a start, _"Where am__ I?"_ Naruto was about to panic, when he realized that he was very familiar with the room he had been lying in. He was once again in his surrogate grandfather's office; now that that question was answered he became aware that he had a rather painful headache. He got up off the couch, and made his way towards the window; he quickly regretted this when his legs buckled underneath him at his first step. _"Damn it, I guess the workout my clone made me do wasn't such a good idea after all… hey wait, speaking of my clones I need to figure out how much my clones at the library read." _At this Naruto began trying to figure out what he had learnt, he tried thinking about the history of the village, and dozens of memories came to him, realizing that he had learned a lot about the founding of the village, as well as the founding clans he congratulated himself. Though he did file in his mind that he was going to have to study more into the individual clans, he always knew that Sasuke was a teme, but he hadn't thought almost all of the Uchiha clan had been a group of jerks.

Struggling to his feet he slowly made his way to the window in the office, and pulled open the blinds. Looking out on the streets of the village he saw that it was just after dawn, so he decided to make his way back to the couch. Sitting down he was working on remembering how he got back to the Hokage's office, he remembered being halfway through the 5th set of his workout the night before.

-Flashback-

Naruto was lying on the ground panting; in fact panting was what he had been doing for the past 2 hours. His body was screaming in protest at any of his attempts to move, but he was determined to finish his workout, it was getting dark now, and he was getting worried if he didn't finish up soon the Hokage would leave the office for the night, and he didn't want to make his surrogate grandfather wait for him, so with a loud groan of protest he pushed himself up off the ground, and made his way to finish the workout. He didn't know how he did it, but he finished, and even managed to push through the run. He left the clearing heading towards the Hokage tower, completely forgetting about the clones that were lying around the forest practicing the leaf balancing exercise, and dragged himself to the Hokage tower, it was well after sunset by the time he was climbing up the stairs, and he was in sight of Chizuru's desk, when he remembered his clones at the library, and made the hand sign to dispel them, he thought he heard Chizuru say something when his world went black.

-Flashback End-

As Naruto sat on the couch, he thought back to why the Hokage had told him that the Kage Bunshin was dangerous… _"Baka, I didn't think about how I get all the exhaustion they get as well… ugh, Oh man, I totally didn't even bother thinking about the hundreds of clones that I left back at the training ground when I dispelled them, no wonder I was out, I must have used up like all my chakra… weird, I've never done that before… still I wonder how long I've been out for." _

Naruto decided that because his head was still bothering him, he'd lie back down and wait for the Hokage or Chizuru to come by so they could tell him how long he'd been out, he remembered Iruka-sensei telling him about how chakra exhaustion could leave you unconscious for more than a week if it was bad enough, and he figured he had a bad case of it. _"Wait a minute, since when do I remember all of Iruka-sensei's boring lectures… I guess I must've read something about it in the books I was reading. Actually I think I'm going to need to rethink my way of getting my clones to read for me, judging from how much my head is hurting I don't think it's a good idea to try and absorb all the things they read at the same time, I guess for now I'll just get them to dispel every time they finish a book. I think that'd work." _At this Naruto allowed himself to drift back off into a dreamless sleep.

About 3 hours later the Hokage was making his way towards his office, he hated leaving Naruto there overnight, but at that time he decided that he'd just let Naruto sleep off his exhaustion in the office, he figured with how quickly Naruto healed even a case of chakra exhaustion wouldn't keep him down for more than a day. Speaking of days, Hiruzen was looking forward to this one, for the first time in years he was going to go to his private training ground and start working on honing his skills and trying to get them back to what they once were.

He decided he'd spend some time in the office in the early morning in case Naruto woke up early, and then around noon head out himself, he had picked up the chakra weights himself yesterday, but he hadn't given them to the boy because he had been brought into his office by his worried secretary.

The Hokage was heading up the staircase thinking about all the paperwork he had gotten through the day before, he couldn't help but congratulate himself, reflecting on how he had finally conquered his nemesis. Unfortunately he had noticed some severe problems with a lot of the papers brought to him by the civilian council. He was aware that since he had retaken the mantle of Hokage after the Yondaime died sealing the Kyūbi he had allowed the civilian council to gain more power than they used to have, but upon getting the memories back from all the paperwork he was shocked to see how bold they had become, in the demands they made.

He resolved that he was going to remind them that Konohagakure no Sato was a shinobi village, and as such it was essentially a military dictatorship, he was upset that he had allowed himself to become so lax that they could grasp so much power. He told himself that he was going to have to look into the financial matters of the village much more carefully to see just how far they had dared go. _"They took advantage of my old age, but no more, I will remind them why I was called Kami no Shinobi, they aren't going to get away with this anymore, in fact just I think I'm going to leave behind a dozen clones today, just to ensure that I can read everything they try and 'demand' carefully, I've acted lazily for too long, I'll have to gather as much evidence before I make my move against the civilian council. I just hope Danzō doesn't try and get in my way." _He greeted Chizuru with a smile, and made his way into his office to see a quietly sleeping Naruto lying on the couch, and a massive pile of paperwork on his desk.

The Hokage sighed and took his place behind his desk; he decided he'd sort through the piles before assigning the work to his clones. He knew he would still need to attend all the meetings, but he couldn't help but smirk at the thought of how the civilian council was going to react to him taking a more dominant role in the meetings. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much they had managed to slip past him in the past 12 and a half years, but it wasn't going to be happening anymore. No, he would remind the council why he was the Hokage.

However, there was one thing on his mind that he decided he should make a priority, the Uzumaki Vault, Kushina had thankfully had the foresight to seal all of the Uzumaki scrolls she had in a storage scroll locked with a blood seal that would only open for Naruto, but the Uzumaki Vault was in one of the older banks of the village, and it held all the families wealth, he had forgotten about in the early years of Naruto's life, while he was fending off Danzō's attempts to get a hold of Naruto to make his a weapon. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about them, but he had to make sure that Naruto's inheritance, at least from his mother, was still safe.

After spending around half an hour sorting his paperwork, the sleeping blonde on the couch drew his attention. At this point Naruto was waking up, and as he wiped the sleep away from his eyes, he turned to see the top of his surrogate grandfather's head looking at him from behind a giant pile of paperwork, "Hey Jiiji, why're you doing all that paperwork, weren't you going to get your Kage Bunshin to do it for you?"

"Ah Naruto, you're up, yes I am going to be having my clones do all the paperwork, I just wanted to sort through it while waiting for you to get up."

"Oh, that makes sense I guess… So how long was I out?" Naruto was worried he might have been out for a week, and was worried about losing the time from his training, thankfully he needn't have worried.

"You've been asleep since last night, even I'm slightly shocked by how quickly you've recovered, but then again, I've always believed that your unnaturally high healing rate was caused by the Kyūbi's chakra being present in you."

Naruto was slightly shocked to hear that his quick healing was caused by a giant demon, and wasn't slow to mention this, "Are you kidding old man, are you saying that the stupid fox is good for something?"

"Well Naruto, as sorry as I am to say it, the Kyūbi has done a better job keeping you alive than a good many of the ANBU of this village." At this the Hokage hung his head in shame, thinking back to all of Naruto's hospital visits, because some drunk villagers, or on occasion shinobi, would stumble upon Naruto, and would cause riots trying to get their 'revenge' on the demon.

Naruto was thinking back to some of the times he'd ended up in the hospital, and some of the injuries he'd gotten from the mobs that would chase him, and he remembered some of the shinobi that he had read about in the records, and he recalled that some of his wounds had been comparably worse than the wounds that had killed quite a few veteran shinobi. "Jiiji, are you saying that if it wasn't for the Kyūbi I'd be dead?"

The Hokage who was still staring down at his desk, slowly looked back up into the young blondes eyes, _"He's so innocent, if I didn't understand why you used Naruto as the Kyūbi's vessel Minato, I could curse you… Oh if only you knew by how much the village had betrayed you Naruto, I'm so sorry I've failed in protecting you…" _

"I don't know Naruto, I would like to say of course not, but only you really know the severity of your injuries… so there is a good chance that without the Kyūbi's chakra healing you, we might not be having this conversation today." Naruto was looking down at the floor, deep in thought, he hated the fox for the pain it had caused him, _"If it wasn't for the stupid fox I would probably had a normal life, I might even have had a family… but now that I think about it, I should have been dead a long time ago."_

-Flashback-

"Die Demon"

"We'll get you for what you did to our families"

"We'll kill you this time brat!"

The 9 year old Naruto hadn't managed to keep in his scream as the first kunai embedded itself in his back, he was somewhere in the slums of Konoha, and the mob had managed to herd him into an alley and cut off all the exits, he cursed that he hadn't been fast enough to get away from the mob. Seeing that he had no way to get away, he resigned himself to his fate, he knew they wouldn't kill him, he knew the Hokage would have sent some ANBU to keep him safe, he had asked once why the ANBU didn't just stop the mobs when they formed, but the old man just sighed, and grumbled about the civilian council meddling.

Back to Naruto's current situation though, he was holding back tears, he had one kunai stuck in his right shoulder blade, and another man was advancing on him, he knew what was going to happen, and he knew if he tried to protect himself it would only be worse, so he braced himself for the impact as the man drove a knee into the short boy's chest. Naruto heard his ribs crack as he fell forward, only to be kicked onto his back by another member of the mob, another one lashed out at him with a knife and slashed it across his chest. He could feel the blood running across his chest, _"only a little longer, the ANBU will come and get me out of here"_ the thought still didn't help as the villager's kept on kicking him, and plunging kunai into him, as he felt his consciousness fading, he was running over why the ANBU hadn't gotten him out yet? _"They usually don't take this long, are they going to abandon me too?"_ Naruto was overcome with agony and finding it difficult to breath, as he noticed what looked like the air shimmering at the alleys entrance…

-Flashback End-

"_That was probably the worst time I'd gotten hurt, I actually still have some scars from that time… I really do have the worst birthdays." _Naruto sighed at the memory, _"Yeah, my life has been pretty horrible… at least after that Jiiji always had like a dozen ANBU around on my birthday…" _Naruto looked back up at his surrogate grandfather, and smiled sadly.

"Don't worry about it Jiiji, at least the Fuzzball is good for something." At this Sarutobi looked back up at the boy, he didn't understand how a child that'd been through all that the boy had could still be such an optimistic child, he knew that if the boy's parents had been alive to see all that had happened to their son the village would have been in trouble, he could only be thankful that Naruto was truly a kind hearted child, he once again swore to do a better job helping the boy.

Sarutobi slowly got up from his desk and walked around towards where Naruto was sitting on the couch. He slowly sat down beside the boy, and waited a moment before turning towards the boy and speaking. "Naruto, this village has committed so many wrongs against you; I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you become the shinobi you want to become. However, seeing as you're up now, I do have the chakra weights that I promised to get you."

At this Naruto perked back up, he had been feeling rather down since thinking about the mobs that were always after him on his birthdays, but hearing about the chakra weights he couldn't help but get excited. "Awesome, thanks Jiiji, so how do they work?"

The Hokage watched as Naruto had bounced off the couch, as if they hadn't just been speaking about what was quite possibly the most unpleasant topic two people could ever discuss, the old man, sighed slightly at the blondes antics, he knew it was part of the blondes way of coping, he wanted to weep thinking back of everything that had caused Naruto to adopt his carefree and happy mask.

"Naruto, if you open the top drawer of my desk, on the right side, there is a wooden case, bring it over here. Naruto following the instruction, bolted to the drawer and finding the box in question carried it over to his surrogate grandfather. The wooden box was solid, and had the same spiral that was on the back of his jumpsuit engraved into it, he always had liked the symbol, but he handed the box over to the Hokage.

The Hokage accepting the case from the blonde, took a minute to look at the symbol, and sigh slightly, knowing how few people there were now who knew why the symbol was so important. He opened the case to reveal what looked like a set of 4 metal bands. "Naruto this is a set of chakra weights, they may not look like much, but they are a very useful tool for training. Unlike Normal weights that are large and bulky, these will not get in your way."

Naruto looked at the 4 metal bands, and had some trouble believing how much they would help him get stronger, but he figured that the Hokage wouldn't make stuff up about training, "How do they work then Jiiji?"

"Well to make them work, you channel chakra into the seals on the inside of the band." At this the Hokage handed Naruto one of the bands, as Naruto looked it over, that the band also had one of the spirals engraved on it, he then looked on the inside, and saw some weird design that looked like it had a kanji or two at the centre of the design.

"What's that Jiiji?" The Hokage took another of the bands out of the case, and turned it around to show the blonde.

"Naruto, these markings on the inside are seals, they are somewhat like the seals that some shinobi use on scrolls to carry some of their possessions, there are actually 2 separate seals on these bands, and they work by channeling chakra into them. One of the seals is to open and close the bands, and the other is the weight seal. Until you have improved your chakra control, I only want you using the seal that opens and closes the bands, because the weight seals only absorb chakra, so once you pump chakra into them, it can't be reduced, so until you have you're chakra control mastered, you can come to me to get me to increase the weight of each band."

Naruto was somewhat disappointed that he wouldn't be able to do it all himself, but if the other day had taught him anything it was how poor his chakra control was, it took hundreds of his clone an entire afternoon to get the leaf balancing exercise down.

"Ok Jiiji, hey wait, you said that some shinobi use seals for carrying stuff and things, could I learn how to do that sort of thing?" Naruto was really hoping that his surrogate grandfather would approve of him trying to learn something new.

The Hokage had to work to keep his smile off his face at this request, the Uzumaki clan was naturally gifted at fuinjutsu, and Minato had been a seal master himself, so he had high hopes for Naruto, a few days ago he would have doubted that Naruto would be able to learn fuinjutsu because of how much theory there was to it, but if Naruto could spend a day in a library reading things that he had gone out of his way to ignore, he figured the young blonde would put some effort into studying something like fuinjutsu.

"Naruto, what you're asking about is a very complicated thing to learn, it is an art known as fuinjutsu, and it is very hard to learn…" The Hokage couldn't help but feel slightly upset that he had decided to tease Naruto, "However, I suppose if you can spend hours studying history that I could find you some introductory fuinjutsu scrolls…"

Naruto bounded towards the Hokage tackling him in a hug, excitedly repeating his thanks. The Hokage smiled at this, and slowly brought Naruto out of his ecstatic state, so that they could continue their discussion about the chakra weights.

"Naruto, I'll find you some scrolls on fuinjutsu theory by the end of the week, so you should continue doing the training you've started, now let's get these weights on, ok?" Naruto smiled at this, and looked at his surrogate grandfather. The Hokage smiled a bit, and asked Naruto to hold out his hands. Naruto complied instantly, and smiled as the Hokage unlocked the bands, and put the first two around either of his wrists, and then showed Naruto how to use the seals for opening and closing the band, and had the blonde demonstrate that he could do it a few times before he told him to put them on around his ankles.

Naruto decided that he liked how they looked, only the ones on his wrist had the spiral engraved in them, but they were all made of near-black slightly shiny steel, just like the kunai he used. Overall he decided that they were pretty badass, and he they were going to help him become more badass.

Naruto listened as the Hokage explained that he should only ask himself, or other adult shinobi for help with increasing the amount of weight in the seals, and Naruto willing agreed, looking forward to training. The Hokage channeled some chakra into each seal, and told Naruto that each of the chakra weights was around 15lbs now, and that he shouldn't ask to have them increased till he didn't notice any resistance to moving around with the weights on.

After chatting for a little while longer, Naruto decided he should make his way back to his apartment, and get some more rest. It took him quite a bit longer than usual to make get back to his house, but finally Naruto made it up the 6th flight of stairs to his apartment, opening the door and stepping in, he promptly tripped and fell over the piles of old clothes, empty instant ramen cups, and general mess that he had accumulated over the years.

Naruto decided that the first thing he'd do is get some food, but seeing as he didn't really feel like moving at the moment, he quickly summoned around half a dozen clones, he ordered two to carry him to his room, one to cook something, two to clean up his apartment, which he had never bothered doing before, but decided if he was going to be a serious ninja he should take the other aspects of his life seriously, and that way he wouldn't be tripping on all the junk lying around. The last clone he decided to send to the library, he told the clone that when it got there it should summon the same amount of clones as the other day, and get to reading.

A few hours later Naruto woke up again staring at his ceiling, he made to get up, being mindful of the weights, he decided that he'd rested enough, because the sooner he got to training, the sooner he'd get used to the new weight he was using. After making his way to the kitchen he was shocked by what he saw, there was a large amount of food prepared on the table, and the room looked nothing like it had just a few short hours ago, he sat down in his chair, and greeted the three clones who were cleaning up the apartment, and was very thankful he had decided to clean his house up.

He ate the meal prepared by the clone, thanking kami that the clone he had sent to get food yesterday had the sense to get a cook book, he was still bugged by not getting to eat ramen all the time, but he figured learning how to cook for himself wasn't a bad thing either.

After finishing his meal and telling his clones to keep up with the cleaning he set off to train. He arrived at the training ground he had used the last day, finding that it was thankfully vacant once again, he once again summoned a few hundred clones telling them to continue working on the leaf balancing exercise, he wanted them to be able to balance them by their stems while spinning them with their chakra by the end of the week so he was sure he mastered the exercise before moving on to the next one, and he once again summoned a clone to come up with a workout for the day.

The next few days were brutal for the young blonde, he become slowly convinced he was suffering from ramen deprivation, as well as physical exhaustion from his workouts and mental exhaustion because of the information he would learn from the clones, he had come across some interesting books, in his studies, but he still felt sorry for the clones he would send to the library. He was also a little upset with how slow his clones were reading, he knew that they had to read everything thoroughly or he wouldn't get all his ramen, but by this point he wasn't sure if 23 bowls of ramen would last him till the next weekend. Sadly he was out of time for this week, and was making his way towards the Hokage tower.

Speaking of the Hokage, Naruto had realized just how bad of an idea it had been to call the Hokage 'old man', when he had been reading some of the older laws, he found out that being so disrespectful towards the village leader was a punishable offense, and he was increasingly glad that he was as close with the Hokage as he was.

He had visited Iruka-sensei the following evening, and gotten quizzed on the books he had read, and was slightly shocked that his old sensei was surprised he had read 23 books over the course of the week, he knew he had been a bad student, but he was still a little offended that Iruka hadn't immediately believed that he had read all the books he said.

Naruto was by now outside the door of his surrogate grandfather's office, and was looking forward to two things, the first of which was he'd be getting some scrolls on fuinjutsu, and the second was obviously the ramen.

The Hokage unlike Naruto hadn't had a good week, it had been one issue after the other, he had started training again, and was sorely disappointed in how far his skill had fallen, and if all the work he was putting his body through to work himself back up wasn't enough he had discovered that the civilian council had managed to steal all the funds from the Uzumaki vaults, 4 members of the civilian council were still unconscious in the hospital due to the pressure of the KI he had directed at them were, and the finance minister would probably never recover… He had very nearly executed the entire civilian council for saying that the funds were appropriated because of the damage the Kyūbi had caused in its attack.

He actually had ordered the banking minister to meet with Ibiki for further questioning, but he was never more ashamed of the village as a whole than he had been at that moment, the Uzumaki clan had helped fund the Senju clan when they were founding the village, because the Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan were distantly related. The Uzumaki clan had already settled in Uzu no Kuni before Konoha had been founded, and their lands were rich with precious metals and gems.

The Hokage sighed, he had ordered the money returned, but he didn't know how long the civilian council would drag out returning it, but he had to make sure that the money was back at the very least by Naruto's 16th birthday, because at that point, whether he was a chūnin or not he was granted his inheritance.

He was drawn out of his dark mutterings by a knock at his door, and knowing that he had an appointment with Naruto today, invited the young blonde in. The two spoke for a while, well more accurately Naruto talked, and the Hokage listened, he was ecstatic to hear of Naruto's successes, he was also shocked when the boy asked to have his weights increased, but he complied increasing each of the weights too 20lbs.

The two soon left the office heading to Naruto's favourite place to eat, Ichiraku Ramen, their arrival caused an uproar with the ramen chef and his daughter, who had been worried all week when Naruto hadn't shown himself once. The last time they had seen him was the day of his academy exam, and they still hadn't known if he had passed or not. Teuchi and Ayame were both very happy when they saw their favourite blonde stroll into their stand.

After chatting for a bit, and the expected heart attack scare on Teuchi's part upon hearing that his favourite customer wasn't going to be eating his ramen every day, the group discussed what Naruto had been up to the past week. Teuchi and Ayame were shocked to hear how much the young blonde was working himself, and were completely shocked upon hearing what Mizuki had tried to do to Naruto.

Teuchi smiled upon hearing that the Hokage would be buying Naruto ramen weekly though, and he truly believed that using ramen as motivation was a brilliant way to motivate the boy to work on his studies. It also wasn't didn't hurt that it meant he would be getting the Hokage himself as a recurring patron, and in Konoha, that meant good things for your business.

When Naruto finally placed his order, Teuchi couldn't help but hold back a slightly shocked expression, he was accustomed to Naruto being able to down a dozen bowls or ramen if he had needed to go without it for a day or two, but hearing the young boy order 23 assorted bowls, he couldn't believe that the young blonde would be able to finish them.

Overall the visit took a little over an hour, to most the sight of the young blonde practically inhaling bowl after bowl of ramen was slightly revolting, but a select few watched with an odd fascination curious as to where all the ramen went. It took till the 20th bowl for Naruto to slow down, he remembered that this would be the only time he would eat ramen for the next 7 days, and decided he would savour the last three bowls. When the blonde finally finished off the last bowl, placing it on the precariously high pile, Teuchi smirked at his other customer's astonishment, the only one who could have possibly eaten more ramen was a near starved Akimichi, and even then he figured they would be hard pressed.

The Hokage departed a short while after Naruto finished eating, he would have loved to spend more time with his surrogate grandson, but he himself had work to do, and even with his clones handling all his old paperwork, he still had meetings to attend, and training to do, so after warning Naruto not to overdo it with his training, he made his way out.

Naruto left shortly after that, saying that he'd see Teuchi and Ayame next week, nearly bursting into tears of the thought of having to go so long without ramen, and seeing the young boy's distress, Teuchi offered Naruto a bowl to take with him, to which shockingly the blonde refused. He said even though he didn't like it, he had promised the old man that he would only eat ramen once a week, and only when the Hokage bought it.

Naruto made his way back to his apartment, deciding he'd take today easy, so that he'd be able to get used to the added weight he had on. On his trip back home, he was thinking back over some of the things he had learned in the past week.

-Flashback-

Naruto had just mastered the leaf exercise, and could now balance the leaf on his forehead only using its stem, and he had finally gotten down the more refined chakra control to rotate it. He had been making his way to drop off his rent, and had decided he'd give the rent to the man who owned the apartment in person. So he was shocked when he waited outside the door for ten minutes after knocking before he finally realized that the hinges on the door looked like they were rusted shut.

Naruto let his curiosity get the best of him, and decided to sneak in through one of the windows, and found that the place was covered in dust. There had been some old furniture there, left as if forgotten, but upon exploring the apartment, he was shocked to see that behind the door was a small pile, of the envelopes he delivered every month as his rent. He noticed that there were three years, worth of rent in the pile, and he tried to remember the last time he had seen anybody in the complex.

Sadly he couldn't remember seeing anyone in the building since he was 9, so he cursed his poor observations, took the pile of money he had slowly accumulated in the empty apartment, and created a few clones to search the rest of the complex. He found all the apartments, in a similar condition to the first one he searched, aside for the apartment on the 9th floor, being the top floor of the apartment, he assumed it had once been used by some rich people, because the apartment on the top floor, was a suite that took up the entire 9th level.

He was shocked that anybody needed that much room, but he figured rich people probably had that much space just to show off.

-Flashback End-

Naruto arrived back at his apartment, he had debated taking residence in the huge apartment on the top floor, but he figured it was just more empty space, however, he didn't feel bad about moving to one of the or apartments in the building that had a slightly bigger kitchen and living room, he had found that apparently only the hot water in his apartment didn't work, so he moved to one of the other apartments on his floor. He had also taken the liberty of 'borrowing' some of the furniture from the apartment on the top floor, he figured if it was just going to sit there, someone should make use of it. He made his way to the couch in his living room and relaxed. He drifted back off into sleep looking forward to training, and faded into dreams of him swimming through lakes filled with ramen.

Naruto woke up a few hours later, and created a clone to quickly cook something, he decided to do push ups while waiting for his meal to be prepared, and was at around 500 by the time the clone dispelled letting him know that the food was done. He quickly ate, and decided that he would visit Iruka-sensei in the hospital. _"He's probably bored out of his mind, its good he's able to leave in a couple days, I'll ask him to get ramen with me and Jiiji next week."_

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Bam, done, I'm sorry it's so late guys. I know this chapter wasn't so exciting, but it was mainly to show that Naruto is growing, and getting smarter. I plan on having Chapter 4 up by Sunday, so look forward to it, there will be a lot happening in the next few chapters.

So as always, I hope you guys liked it, and please leave a review to let me know what you think, as well as anything you'd like to see happen with this story. You can also feel free to PM me if you'd like, I welcome any suggestions you have for me.

Thanks Again,

**~FeJazz**


	4. Chapter 4 - Infiltration

Hey Everyone, I realize that today is not at all Sunday, however, it is still earlier than I thought I'd have this chapter up. I am currently in exam season, and I actually have my exams all on either tomorrow, or Monday, so I am pleased I got this chapter up when I did.

I would also like to thank everyone who left me some reviews on my last chapter, and thanks again for reading my story.

But anyhow, without further ado, I present to you Chapter 4.

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"Naruto" - Person Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 4 – Infiltration and the Forgotten**

It had been a month since the incident with the forbidden scroll, and Naruto was shocked at how much he had changed. He was faster, smarter, stronger, and even slightly more mature. He looked over the past month with a sense of pride, he had gotten so much stronger than he was before, and he had essentially done it on his own. He had asked for some pointers from his surrogate grandfather, or Iruka-sensei if he needed help with some of his training, but he'd been doing the work himself.

Naruto was currently lying on top of the Hokage monument staring up at the night sky, he never knew why he was drawn to sitting on the Yondaime's head, but the man was his Idol after all, even if he had sealed the stupid fox inside him.

It had been a long day of training for our young blonde, and he was just taking some time to rest. He lifted his arms above his head in a stretch, and smiled at the resistance he felt, he had gone against the Hokage's advice and increased each of his weights by 10 lbs. yesterday instead of the usual 5, and was proud he wasn't finding it too difficult to get used to the new weight.

He had spent the last month reading through all the Shinobi History of the village, and he was pleased to say that the Hokage had agreed that anything more he read about their village's history was redundant by this point, seeing as he would only be going over it from different perspectives, so he had instructed Naruto to learn about the history of the other shinobi villages.

He had decided he'd read about the villages that were allied with Konoha first, and decided that he'd start reading up on the founding of Sunakagure tomorrow. He had read about a lot of smaller villages in passing, and was looking forward to reading about them too. He had also read in a few of the histories about a village called Uzushiogakure, the Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides, apparently the village had been an ally of Konoha, but had been destroyed in the second Shinobi War, and was now nothing more than ruins.

He figured that the best way to go about his reading to keep himself from getting everything he learned confused would be to study the different villages one at a time. So he would only study the destroyed villages, after he had built up a good knowledge on the ones that were still around, and could pose a threat to his home today.

Naruto was also looking forward to when he'd be able to go out on missions and see the other villages, he had decided he wanted to see the Ruins of Uzushiogakure, and had made a mental note to ask his Jiiji if when he was a bit older if he would be allowed to go and visit the place.

The blonde pushed himself up off the Yondaime's head, and slowly stood up, he nearly fell forwards off the monument, but quickly stabilized himself by pushing chakra to his feet to he didn't fall. _"Whew, that wouldn't have been good, thank Kami I listened to Jiiji and worked on my chakra control."_ The young blonde had slowly been making his way through Chakra control exercises and had finally gotten the tree walking exercise down the other day; he was still having trouble deciding what the next exercise he was going to do would be. There were two that stood out to him as immediately useful, he figured he'd be able to get them both down before he had his team assignment, but was trying to decide which would be more immediately useful, in case he couldn't get them both down. _"Water walking makes sense as the next thing to learn, but the Chakra Circulation exercise would be really useful for when it's cold, so I don't have to run around in a big jacket all the time… wellllllll… if Jiiji is gonna buy me some new shinobi gear, I know I'm going to have to tone down the orange. As much as orange is a kickass colour, it really isn't the smartest thing for a shinobi to wear."_

Naruto was laughing at himself while he was making his way back towards his apartment, he was looking around when he felt someone watching him, and quickly turned to look towards one of the rooftops, and saw an ANBU shift out of sight. _"Just you wait ANBU-san"_ At this the young blonde had a slightly sinister grin etched across his face. He had initially intended his painting the Hokage monument to be his last big prank that would be forever remembered, but recently he had gotten an idea to work on something. He came up with his idea, and knew that it would be his crowning achievement in the pranking world. If he succeeded pulling it off, he might make enemies of some of the less good natured ANBU, but he figured pulling off this prank would also show him just how far he had gotten in his stealth training.

By this time, the blonde had made it back to his apartment building and walked up to his new apartment. He had told the Hokage about the building being abandoned, and the Hokage just said he didn't want Naruto living there in an empty building. After much begging and pleading Naruto managed to convince his surrogate grandfather to allow him to stay, and after even more begging and pleading, the old man grudgingly gave him permission to use the building 'as he saw fit'.

Naruto reached his apartment door and walked in, the apartment he had moved into after discovering the building was empty was much nicer space, and Naruto had also managed to convince Iruka to buy him what he needed to start working on fuinjutsu. After getting the fuinjutsu scrolls from the Hokage, Naruto had delved into it, and was shocked to find that he had trouble turning away from the scrolls.

It took Naruto 2 days to get through the set of scrolls his surrogate grandfather had given him, and he spent the rest of the week rereading them to ensure he had everything memorized. The scrolls hadn't had any actual seals in them, they were an all about the theory behind fuinjutsu, the second week he got some scrolls on all the different types of seals, and finally the other day, he had gotten some instructing scrolls, on how to create seals.

After getting all the theory down Naruto had been anxious to try them out, and decided to make a simple storage seal. It took him 8 ruined scrolls, but he finally managed to get the formula right for creating a storage seal. He was currently using it to carry around his book on chakra control, a bingo book that he got after spending more time in the library, as well as a few bento's that he or one of his clones would prepare in the mornings.

He had also been working on a set of barrier seals, and figured he nearly had the formula down behind them. It was a 6 point barrier, he had decided on this, because he had learned that anything under a 6 point barrier could destabilize if one of the seals was destroyed, but this way, if one of the seals failed, the barrier would continue to operate until there were only three left. He wanted to have an 8 point seal, but he knew that was far more advanced, and so he stuck with a 6 point seal.

As Naruto made his way to his bedroom, which now thanks to the generously 'donated' furniture from the giant apartment on the top floor, had a rather large, and exceptionally soft bed up against the window. He dropped into his bed and started drifting off, thinking of all the shinobi he had read about in the shinobi records. He had been slightly upset when he found out that the majority of the shinobi listed in the archive were all either retired or deceased shinobi. He understood now that it was because it was sensitive data, and as such the village couldn't have info on their current shinobi out to the public, but he had been happy to find that there was stuff about the well-known shinobi of the village.

He had been reading up on his personal hero, the Yondaime Hokage, and found out that his teacher was none other than one of the legendary Sannin. He only knew a lot about them because he had found an old Bingo Book in the library, and found it really interesting, so he went out to a shinobi supply store under the Henge no Jutsu, and got himself a copy.

Naruto realized that if he was going to be going out on missions, he was at one point or another going to face shinobi from other villages. He decided that as awesome as he was, or was going to be, that he should know about the really dangerous shinobi across the Elemental Nations.

The next 6 weeks passed like the month before, Naruto trained himself into the ground with fervor every single day, and would study fuinjutsu in the evenings till it hurt his head. The only thing not directly related to his training that he had done in the 6 weeks, were at the one month mark from team assignment, he had finally pulled what he dubbed his masterpiece as the village prankster.

-Flashback-

Naruto was sneaking through the village, and making his way towards ANBU headquarters, it was supposed to be a secret location, but after following a small group of ANBU around for a few days, he figured out its location. As Naruto slip out of the side alley he was standing in wearing his trademark bright orange jumpsuit, he dashed across the street keeping low, and to the shadows to avoid detection. He decided that this 'mission' would be his jumpsuit's last mission, no matter how much he loved the colour; a bright orange jumpsuit was probably the least non-discreet outfit he could even wear.

This was exactly why he was wearing it on this mission.

If he could sneak into ANBU headquarters undetected, in a kill-me orange jumpsuit no less, and pull off his prank… well then, that had to say something about his infiltration and stealth skill. _"Ok, now if I remember, I've gotta head all the way down this alley, then there is a side passage that'll take me close to the ANBU headquarters."_ Naruto kept to the shadows against the walls in the alley, he had debated using the rooftops, but he knew that would get someone's attention.

He was about to turn a corner when he heard someone coming around the corner. He quickly jumped up and stuck himself to the bottom of a balcony and stayed there as he watched the people walk underneath him. The two were wearing standard Konoha vests, and were talking about some mission, Naruto decided not to pay much attention to the details they were talking about, but he made a note of what the shinobi looked like. From his vantage point he could tell that one of the men had silver hair, and from what he could tell seemed to be wearing a mask covering the lower half of his face. _"Damn, that looks cool, I gotta remember to get some of those when I go shopping with Jiiji, besides it's a good way to help keep who I am a secret on missions."_ The other man looked like an older Shikamaru to Naruto, so he figured the second man was his infamously lazy classmate's father.

He stayed in his hiding place until the two men passed him. He waited a few minutes, to ensure that they were gone before he dropped back down to the ground. Moving quickly, he rounded the corner, and saw his target.

The ANBU headquarters weren't anything like one would expect, the building seemed to have been designed to be the most plain and unimportant looking building imaginable, it appeared to be a small 4 story apartment complex, but Naruto knew that the ANBU headquarters also had a substantial underground section, so he moved towards the building.

Naruto had already visited the building once, so he knew how he was going to get inside. He quickly made his way around to the back of the building, and started making his way up the drain pipe, he could've just walked up to his entryway, but he didn't want to risk alerting anyone by using chakra. Once he made his way to the third floor window, and slid inside. Making a quick check around, he found that the halls were empty. He knew his target was in the first floor underground, he silently made his way towards the staircase, and performed his Henge no Jutsu, to appear as the silver haired man he saw earlier, and made his way down the staircase. He was surprised that he hadn't met any security, but decided not to question his luck.

Upon making his way to the first subterranean level, he dispelled his Henge, and realized why he hadn't run into anyone, he heard some loud cheering, and singing, letting his curiosity get the better of him, he snuck towards the door that the noise was coming from, and saw inside what looked like a lounge, dozens of shinobi drinking sake and handing gifts to another one of the shinobi.

Naruto couldn't believe his luck that the ANBU would let their guard down for someone's birthday; he certainly wasn't going to let this get in the way of his prank. He quickly made his way down the hallway to the equipment room, he pulled out a storage scroll that he had in his pocket, and made quick work, not wanting to waste any more time that was necessary.

"_Hehehehe, I can't wait to see them tomorrow morning, I so gotta hear it when they try to explain this to Jiiji!" _With that last thought, the young blonde, retraced his steps, and made his way out of the building, _"I can't believe that I got away with that, I mean, wow, those are our elite shinobi, they won't know what hit them."_

Unable to hold back his laughter, the blonde let out a small chuckle as he launched himself out of the third floor window, he didn't even mind if someone noticed the chakra he used, he had to get back to his apartment before he woke up the village with his laughter.

Little did Naruto know that one person saw his escape, the same silver haired shinobi from earlier that evening, the man didn't know what the blonde had done, but he had a feeling he should stop by the Hokage's office in the morning.

The Sandaime Hokage woke up the following morning feeling anxious, he wasn't sure what caused it, but he knew that today was going to be a long day. _"Naruto, I hope you don't have anything to do with what's wrong…" _Oh how wrong he was.

-The Next Day-

Feeling like he should find out the issue as soon as possible, he left for his office early. When he arrived he was shocked to find several ANBU stationed outside his office doorway, waiting for him to arrive. It wasn't odd for the ANBU to be in his office, after all he almost always had several hidden inside his office in case of intruders, but since he had taken to training more and having his clones do the paperwork, he had removed those ANBU. He didn't want his new method of dealing with paperwork to be leaked after all.

Sarutobi also noticed something else odd about the ANBU, they were all wearing large hooded cloaks over their uniforms that went all the way to the floor, completely obscuring their uniforms, putting off that for the moment, he quickly walked into his office, and sat behind his desk.

Sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose, he turned to the ANBU who was currently in charge, "Neko, report, why are you all concealing your uniforms?" There was a noticeably awkward pause while the four ANBU looked at each other.

Finally the one identified as Neko spoke, "Hokage-sama, we have reason to believe ANBU headquarters was infiltrated, either late last evening, or early this morning…"

"WHAT? How could this happen? What was the damage?" The Hokage was absolutely shocked, who could have broken into his elite shinobi's headquarters. That was a huge problem, if someone could get in once, then they could do it again, and there was no telling how much damage they might have done to the village.

"Well… that's the thing Hokage-sama… umm… you see… nothing was damaged, per say, and nothing seems to be missing either…" At this Neko lowered her masked head, to say the Hokage was relieved was an understatement, but that lead to other concerns, such as why the ANBU all looked so embarrassed, if nothing was missing or damaged, then why were they all here, and what was with their cloaks.

"I see Neko, well that is good at least. I must ask then, why did you all feel the need to come by, and if nothing is out of place how do you know that your headquarters were even infiltrated?"

"Well Hokage-sama, we sensed a chakra signature heading away from headquarters, and then there was the… other thing…"

"Hmm, I see, could you identify the chakra signature?"

"Possibly Hokage-sama, but it could take a while; it was only detected for a brief moment."

"I see, and how brief of a moment is that?"

"… one second Hokage-sama"

The Hokage was curious now, who could possibly have gotten into the ANBU headquarters, and managed to go completely undetected. It was an issue, but he was still rather curious as to the cloaks, so he decided to change his line of questioning.

"Well then Neko, you and your men will just have to continue looking into this issue, now would you kindly explain why you are all concealing your uniforms?"

At this all the ANBU tensed, and then what they did surprised the Hokage, after all, it wasn't every day that the villages elite ninja would shuffle around, fiddling with their hands, and look everywhere but at the Hokage.

"Umm… well you see Hokage-sama… there was one thing that was… damaged at headquarters…" The Hokage could tell that they were stalling and trying to get around his question, so he decided to just circumvent their evasions.

"ANBU, I order you to remove your cloaks." The ANBU looked towards each other, if it weren't for the fact that their faces were covered, the Sandaime would swear that they all looked horrified at the idea, but after receiving another stern glare from the Hokage, they knew that they couldn't stall any longer.

The Hokage watched with interest as the ANBU started undoing the fastenings along the cloak, he was slightly surprised when he saw that they were closed all the way from the neck to where they brushed the ground. He grew more and more curious until the ANBU realized that they had no other method for stalling and the all dropped their cloaks.

The Hokage looked at his ANBU dumbly for a moment and didn't say anything… and then burst out laughing at the sight before him. Before him stood 4 of his elite shinobi, all wearing matching ANBU uniforms, in a brilliantly bright, kill-me orange. Needless to say he automatically understood why the ANBU were so embarrassed, after all, there was only one shinobi in all of Konoha that enjoyed that particular colour, and he just so happened to be the only person in Konoha who would have the gall to sneak into ANBU headquarters just to die all their uniforms that colour.

After taking a moment to calm down the Hokage turned back to his now obviously humiliated ANBU. "Well, I assume that it wasn't just the four of you who had their uniforms (chuckle)… damaged?"

"No Hokage-sama, there was not a single uniform left in Headquarters that wasn't damaged…"

At this point all five people standing in the office heard what sounded like a snort of laughter, and saw a book tumble off the shelf and land on the floor. If this wasn't enough of a confusing occurrence, the fact that the book exploded in a puff of smoke to reveal a certain young blonde who was notoriously famous for his pranks laughing so hard that he was wheezing and pointing at the ANBU, realizing his cover was blown, and taking advantage of the momentary shock on everyone in the rooms face, the blonde made a handsign, and seemingly puffed out of existence.

After a moment of shock and profuse embarrassment on the ANBU's part the Hokage turned and spoke again. "Well Neko, it would seem that our culprit has revealed himself… if you wouldn't mind would you please have him retrieved and brought to my office?"

This seemed to get the ANBU's attention; each of them was mentally smacking themselves on the back of their heads for not figuring out who it was that had done this, but then they quickly came to realize a horrifying fact. "Hokage-sama, would it be possible for us to head out in standard issue chūnin and jōnin attire, as opposed to this?" Neko asked this hopefully, if it was required they would even all pay for the temporary uniforms, but anything was better than what they were wearing.

Sadly and to their horror they would not get off that easily. "I think not Neko, perhaps you can think of this as an exercise in stealth, after all, if a genin fresh out of the academy managed to infiltrate your headquarters in such an outfit, surely you can all operate for a day or two in orange as well?" The Hokage was internally laughing his head off at the way the ANBU all slumped their shoulders at that, "And also, pass that along to all other ANBU, that they are not permitted to attempt to camouflage their outfits."

The ANBU looked terribly defeated as they walked out of the Hokage's office, and began passing out the Hokage's orders. Needless to say, the ANBU heeded the Hokage's word in regard to treating their outfits as part of a stealth exercise, because only 2 ANBU were spotted by anyone that day.

-Flashback End-

Naruto would always remember that as his greatest prank ever, it would live in the memories of the ANBU for generations to come, and he couldn't help but be proud of how he had managed to pull it off.

Another thing he had been proud of was how he had managed to evade the ANBU. They had been trying to catch him for several days; he had actually managed to break his own personal record on ANBU evasion. His old record had been something like 6 hours, this time it took the ANBU nearly 4 days to find him.

However even looking back at the memory of his most well executed prank could not suppress the sadness and hurt he felt that was caused by his recent discovery.

Two days ago, Naruto had been in the library reading up on the history of other shinobi villages, and he decided he would read up a bit on Uzushiogakure, he was initially shocked on how little information he could find on it, it was almost as if someone, or several people had made it their mission to rid the library of all the information on Uzushiogakure that they could. Being who he was, this only further pushed the blonde to find the information, and after hours of searching, and through liberal use of the Henge no Jutsu to gain access to the restricted sections of the shinobi library, he found 2 books, one on the alliance of Konoha and Uzu, and the other being a very old book about the history of Uzushiogakure.

Nothing he had expected could have prepared him for what he found in those books. It took him till the second line of the first of the two books to find a name that he didn't expect to find. He found the history of the Uzumaki Clan. If it hadn't been for how much he'd been training and learning over the past few months, he would have ran to confront the Hokage about what he was learning right then and there, but as he was, he couldn't do anything but read and weep at the tragic stories.

Uzushiogakure was a relatively small shinobi village, located to the west of The Land of Fire, in the Island Nation of Uzu no Kuni. Uzushiogakure was founded by the Uzumaki Clan a decade before Konohagakure, and was remarkably wealthy, from what he read he learned that they had earned their wealth, through the mineral rich islands of Uzu, which had an abundance of precious metals, as well as rather large gemstone deposits. The Uzumaki, were renowned for their unmatched skill in fuinjutsu, as well as their remarkable vitality as well as their longevity. It wasn't unheard of for an Uzumaki to live well into their 100's.

He was confused as to how he should feel about what had happened to his clan, they had been destroyed, almost entirely during the second shinobi war, when the armies of Kirigakure, Iwagakure and Kumogakure as well as some of the smaller villages, all joined forces to attack Uzu. He read about the last stand of his people, and how even though they were hopelessly outnumbered, his clan stood their ground so they could ensure that the civilians were able to escape from the slaughter. Uzushiogakure had a shinobi force numbering around 2000 in total, and the combined armies numbered were over 40000, and still his family, and his people stood their ground. They held the island hoping for help from either Konoha, or Suna, but after 3 weeks of siege, and their numbers shinobi force taking casualties the last of the Uzu shinobi gathered together, and managed to use a forbidden seal of their design at the cost of their own lives to seal the souls of all the attacking forces on Uzu.

He had spent the last two days training himself harder than ever with the knowledge that he could be the last of his clan, and as such he had to make sure that his ancestors would be proud of him. Naruto had always wondered about his past, and about who his parents were, but he had never bothered looking through the shinobi records for information on them. He was an orphan, and for all he knew Uzumaki might have just been a name randomly given to him, but after reading all he had on clan laws, he knew it was a punishable offence to take a clan name if you were either born into the clan or adopted into it. And seeing that he wasn't adopted it meant at least one of his parents was an Uzumaki.

Naruto had made a point of ignoring the shinobi records for the past two days in fear of what he might find, he had always wanted to know who his parents were, but now that he knew that he might be able to find who they were, he was worried about what they would think of him. He was worried he might not be able to live up to their legacies.

The next morning, Naruto awoke from dreams of his clans last stand, he looked up at his jacket hanging in his closet, and sated at the spiral he had always worn on his sleeve. He couldn't quite remember when he got it, but he knew it had been on one of his birthdays. He couldn't help but be upset with the village for wearing his clan's symbol, and so easily forget all his clan had stood for. The spiral that was on the back of all Konoha flak jackets was the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. When Konoha had been founded, the head of the Uzumaki clan had allowed the village to wear their symbol as a sign of trust and friendship between their villages.

Sighing at the forgotten memory of his clan, Naruto slowly went about his morning routine. _"I can't keep putting it off anymore… I need to know who they were." _As Naruto left his house, he began making his way towards the library. He would have stopped by the Hokage's office earlier, but he couldn't help but feel betrayed that his surrogate grandfather never told him about his clan. He decided that if he couldn't find his parents in the shinobi record he'd talk to the Hokage, but he decided that he couldn't have just some clone looking for his family. He decided that he needed to find out for himself.

He made his way into the library, greeting the receptionist, and barely receiving any hostility from her. He had been coming here for the past two and a half months after all, so he wasn't an entirely unwelcome sight, he learned that the head librarian didn't care who he was as long as he treated the books he read with respect, and he kept quiet.

Making his way up a few staircases, he headed to where the records were kept. He was still apprehensive about what he might find, but he decided he couldn't let his worry get in his way. He quickly scanned through the records, finding the clan section. He hadn't bothered looking through clans, because he didn't know he had belonged to one.

Scrolling through, he saw a lot of names he recognized as the names of his classmates, as well as some he wasn't too familiar with, he saw the Aburame, the Akimichi, the Hatake, the Hyūga, the Inuzaka, the Kurama, the Nara, the Sarutobi, the Senju, the Shimura, the Uchiha and the Yamanaka Clan. He was instantly disheartened that his clan wasn't even listed here, but he decided that because they weren't officially a clan of Konoha, maybe they would just be in the main record.

Sighing, he moved to a long row of drawers and searched through it. He was once again upset that the record had the shinobi listed based on the day of their death, so he spent a few minutes trying to figure out when his parents could have passed away. He in a matter of moments came to the conclusion that because he was born on the night of the Kyūbi attack, then at least his mother had to be alive all the time before then. He sighed as the moved to the two drawers set apart labelled for the Kyūbi attack.

Naruto spent hours going through the drawers; he couldn't help but feel responsible for every name he read. He felt sad to think that all that was left of all these shinobi who had died defending their village was a 4'' by 6'' card that had their information listed on it.

He had been going through the records almost the entire day now, and it was getting near sunset when he realized he was coming near the end. Over the past hour or so, he had begun thinking that maybe what the villagers told him about his mother abandoning him had been right. If she wasn't in the records, then she must have abandoned him.

As he was flipping through the final 20 cards he noticed something that looked odd. He flipped back to the card in question, and stared at the name again. He was having a hard time making out what it said, because it looked like someone had spilt something over the card. Getting upset at that, Naruto pulled out a spare scroll that he had with him, and set the card on top of it. He wasn't sure if using his chakra to transfer the writing would work properly with something like this, but that was how you transferred seals from scrolls to other tools.

Setting the card gently on the scroll, he placed his hands over top of it, and slowly began channelling his chakra through it. He knew the theory behind moving seals, even though he hadn't actually practiced it much yet, but because it wasn't a seal, he channelled his chakra slowly, in hopes of just picking up the writing that was there before the stain.

After several minutes of channelling his chakra, Naruto slowly removed the card and read what it said:

_Name: Uzumaki, Kushina_

_a.k.a. (The Bloody Habanero), The Red Death_

_Rank: Jōnin_

_Specialty: Fuinjutsu, Kenjutsu_

_Note: At time of death, was off duty, due to pregnancy._

-In the Hokage Tower-

Several hours later, across the village the Hokage was sitting his office. He had been worried about Naruto not having come by his office today, and so he had asked Kakashi to summon the boy, he knew it wasn't the best use of his arguably most skilled Jōnin but he figured it would give Naruto a chance to meet his soon to be sensei a little early. It was worrying him now because he had sent Kakashi off over three hours ago.

Sadly this was when Kakashi came flying through his office window panting.

"Kakashi, what is it, where is Naruto?"

The silver haired masked shinobi looked up at the Hokage and could only answer with one word.

"Gone"

* * *

Bam, done. Sorry that there wasn't a big fight scene or anything in this chapter, and I hope you guys enjoyed the prank. I know it has probably been done before, but I couldn't resist the idea of writing him pranking the ANBU. It was just too easy. Anyhow, I did introduce a few characters this chapter that you will probably recognize.

I am looking forward to what going to be happening as of the next chapter. It will essentially start the ball rolling for Naruto's actual shinobi life. Just a few hints at what you guys can look forward too though. Next chapter will have a confrontation with the masked shinobi, as well as a... wait, why am I revealing my plot. If you guys want to know what's happening next you'll just have to keep reading.

Thanks for reading, and as always please leave a review or send me a PM if you liked it or have any suggestions as to what you want to see happening with the story. I welcome any input my readers have for me and my story.

Until next time, Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Demon Inside

Hey Everyone, I guess I was wrong when I said I wasn't going to be putting up a chapter on Sunday, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been leaving me reviews and encouraging me to keep writing, I hope I can keep up to your expectations. Anyways though I got through this chapter really quickly, far quicker than I thought I was going to, but then again this has probably been my favourite chapter to write so far.

I don't want to say too much but I really hope you guys enjoy this one. As always, please leave a review if you liked it, or have anything you'd like to see

Anyhow, without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 5.

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"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

* * *

**Chapter 5 – The Demon Inside**

The Sandaime Hokage looked across his office at the panting figure of Hatake Kakashi, and could barely form a coherent sentence. He had been waiting for several hours for Kakashi to return with Naruto, and had come up with several explanations as to why they were taking a while, but he had never imagined it was because of something like this. His only hope was that he had misheard the masked shinobi standing in front of him.

"Kakashi, what do you mean Naruto is gone?"

Kakashi took a moment to take a few deep breaths before looking at the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, as instructed I went off to locate Naruto, and return him here, I visited the training ground he has been using for the past 10 weeks, and he was not there, I then visited the ramen stand he frequents, and he was not there. I continued to go to the library, and found he had visited it earlier in the day, but he left a few hours before I arrived and according to the head librarian he looked rather upset when he left."

"Where did you look for him next, I can't believe he would have just disappeared…"

"I wouldn't have thought that either Hokage-sama, but I visited his apartment building, and scoured the building from top to bottom, and when I found where he had been staying I found this." At this Kakashi reached into his pouch, and pulled out a small storage scroll, after applying a bit of chakra to it, Naruto's signature jacket appeared in a puff of smoke.

The Hokage reached over, and took the jacket from the younger man's outstretched hands. He didn't understand why Naruto would have left his jacket in his home, but he then realized something was missing. "Kakashi, where was the emblem that he had on the left shoulder?"

Kakashi looked surprised at this, and examined the jacket again. He noted that it looked as if the fabric had been cut around what had been on his shoulder. "I don't know Hokage-sama… but after finding this in his apartment as well as the fact that his apartment looked like someone had packed up in a hurry, I immediately started scouring the village, I checked every place he's been known to spend time, and couldn't find him. I spoke to his old sensei from the academy, and now the man is off scouring the village himself…"

Kakashi took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. "I also stumbled upon the young Hyūga heiress near the village's main gate. She was crying her eyes out, and when I tried to figure out what she was saying she just kept muttering that he was gone. From what I managed to get out of her, she had seen him arrive at his apartment looking rather upset, before making his way to the village walls. She said she tried to follow him, and he disappeared into a crowd, then she couldn't find him again. I only noticed her, because the shinobi on gate duty was a member of the Hyūga branch family and he had been trying to calm her down."

The Hokage sighed at this; he had never expected that Naruto would leave the village. The boy had been reading up on the village laws, he had to know what could happen to him as a shinobi leaving his village without authorization… the Hokage realized that he had only one choice. "Find him Kakashi. You have to find him… the village has wronged him so much, and though I don't understand what made him finally run, Kami knows that he must have his reasons but you need to find him, and you need to bring him back here."

Sarutobi didn't mention that he had determined that Naruto must have found out about the Uzumaki clan, which would have explained why he had taken the emblem he had worn on his jacket, but he couldn't determine why that would lead the boy to have run away. The shinobi in front of him nodded, and started going through handsigns.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" at this a group of 8 dogs appeared out of a cloud of smoke, the smallest one walked up to Kakashi, "Hey Kakashi, why did you need to summon us all now, I was just about to step in the-"

Kakashi not wanting to have to hear a lengthy explanation of his summons's grooming habits quickly interrupted him. "Not now Pakkun, you can talk about that stuff later, right now I need you all to get the scent from this jacket, and lead me to it."

The small dog looked up at him, "Why do you need all of us then Kakashi, I'm enough for this aren't I?"

"Normally yes, but the boy who's jacket this is can make Kage Bunshin, so he could easily confuse his trail, now go, I'll catch up with you in a few minutes." With that, seven of the eight dogs jumped off, the last one stayed quiet waiting to lead Kakashi to the other dog's trails. After that was done Kakashi turned back to the aging Hokage, "Hokage-sama, do you have any idea why Naruto would have left the village?"

"At the moment no, but go, you need to find him before word of this gets out to the council Kakashi. Go."

So with this Kakashi leapt out the window with the last of his summons leading his way.

-In the Forest Outside of Konoha-

Naruto had stopped running around half an hour ago. He had run around 40 km from the village when he started slowing down. Thanks to his endurance he would have been able to run further, but he decided to take it slow. _"I know they're going to send people to find me anyway, and I won't be able to avoid them forever…"_ Naruto had never felt so betrayed, the man who he had looked up to, and idolized had been lying to him his entire life. _"Jiiji always said he didn't know who my parents were, but he had to know who my mother was; she was a Jōnin for Kami's sake… the Hokage himself has to promote them…"_ The blonde was dragging his feet, he had initially planned to get as far from the village as possible, but he realized he had nowhere to go. He had considered going to the ruins of Uzu, but he didn't have any way to get across the water to the islands. He had started working on the Water Walking exercise a few weeks ago, but he hadn't mastered it yet.

He had initially not wanted anyone to find him, so when he had left the village he created over two dozen clones, and sent them off in different directions, but after he crossed through a stream, he knew that at least the trail left by his scent would be gone. So at that point he had dispelled them, he knew a few of his clones had also crossed streams and rivers, so it wouldn't be easy for anyone to trace him, but he still wasn't sure what he was going to do.

So the blonde walked. He tried to come up with some reason why the man who he had viewed as his surrogate grandfather would have lied to him about his parents. Would it have been that bad for him to even know one of their names? Why would the village have basically gotten rid of the history of his clan? None of it made sense, and with how he was feeling at the moment, he really didn't feel like giving anyone a chance to explain.

His mother had to have had friends, and unless everyone who had ever known her had hated her, it didn't make sense that the entire village would view him as a demon. He was also upset that he really didn't know anything about her, aside from her name. He was really glad he had started learning fuinjutsu, seeing as it was his clan's speciality, but he was really upset that he didn't have anyone from his family to teach him. He didn't even have any family scrolls.

He decided that at one point he was going to need to visit the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, because he figured if anyone would have a family tree of what was apparently the Royal Clan of an allied country, it would be another Royal Family. The problem was that he knew there was no way for him to actually be able to meet with him, after all, he was just a genin, and more than that, he was a genin who had ran from his village. For all he knew, the Daimyō might think that he was a demon himself.

So he kept on walking, he had left his jacket behind because it would only make him easier to spot in the forest. He was currently just wearing his jumpsuit pants, a black t-shirt, and his shinobi sandals, along with his weights. He had also stuck a few sealing scrolls in his pockets, and was carrying some spare sets of clothes, and some food in them. He kept on walking till and noticed how dark it was getting. He figured that even if he wanted to go farther today, he shouldn't travel at night, because he didn't want to run into any bandits, he figured he'd be able to handle them, but he still didn't want to risk it.

So he kept walking till he found a huge tree, that seemed to have been hollowed out, from the looks of it, it might have once been an old outpost from back during the time of the clan wars, but he figured it would easily be better than sleeping out in the open. _"I can't believe how the village could turn their back on my clan like that, hell the Uzumaki helped fund the construction of the village, and they even supplied the village with chakra rich metals in the beginning. Now the villagers just use the resources from my family's home, and treat it like it belongs to them…"_

Muttering to himself he searched through the hollowed out tree; he unsealed his sleeping bag from one of his scrolls and lay down. He was about to go to sleep when he noticed that he hadn't increased his weights that week, he remembered that the Hokage had warned him against upping his weights himself, because they responded to how much chakra he put into them, but he decided that he wasn't planning on talking to the old man for a while, so he figured he'd just do it himself.

He didn't want to overdo it though, so he tried pumping as little chakra as he could into them, he was fortunate in the sense that all his limbs were already against the ground, which resulted in his not knowing exactly how much weight he had added. He slowly drifted off into a deep sleep feeling angry and betrayed, by the one person who he had thought he could always trust.

-Somewhere Else in the Forests Surrounding Konoha-

Hatake Kakashi was getting worried, he had been running for several hours now, and had yet to find Naruto, as he had feared, Naruto had left dozens of trails leading away from the village. He had followed one with one of his dogs for almost 30 km, when it suddenly disappeared. He was disgruntled at this, but he knew he wasn't known for his luck though, so he hadn't really expected anything different.

He sadly didn't have any choice but head towards the next trail. Thankfully for him though, he did have his summons; who were also scouring the trails. He searched far into the night, not stopping, and not slowing. He was getting exhausted, he was still faced with several problems though, it was getting close to sunrise by the time he had narrowed down his search. There were a total of 5 paths that hadn't completely and inexplicably disappeared.

The problem was that each of these trails died off because Naruto or his clones passed through a source of water, thus ending their trail. Which made it far more difficult to track, because it meant they would have to rely on visual signs, and seeing as the one they were searching for was a ninja, using clones that may or may not have disappeared made this a terribly unfavourable gamble.

"_Minato-sensei, Kushina-san, I'm sorry, I should have been there for your son more… I should have helped him, and now it might be too late…"_

Kakashi quickly reached into his pouch and grabbed a soldier pill, he couldn't risk running short of chakra, and he would be using more than was safe with what he was going to do next. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" four clones appeared next to Kakashi, and the each set off down one of in the direction of the blonde's trails, he just hoped he found the boy soon.

-The Next morning with Naruto-

Naruto woke up slowly; he had had a dream where he was walking down what had appeared to be a sewer. He was feeling a bit chilly, and subconsciously reached for his jacket, _"Damn, I forgot, I left my jacket back in the village… darn… whatever, it was the Hokage got it for me anyways, I don't need it…"_ Naruto couldn't help but get angry at the thought of the man who he had viewed as his surrogate grandfather. He figured that there would be people out after him by this point, _"After all, Konoha can't lose its only demon."_

Naruto had read about Jinchūriki in one of the books he had picked up out of interest in the restricted section of the library. He had learned that he wasn't the only one to ever have had some demon or other sealed inside of him. He was rather upset when he read that most of the time jinchūriki were just treated as weapons, but then again, he figured at least if he had been treated like that he could have had someone to teach him properly…

Naruto sat up, and quickly discovered that he couldn't lift his arms, _"What the heck? Why can't I… damn it, how much did I increase my weights by… ugh, this sucks…"_ Naruto spent the next half hour working on lifting his arms, it took him a while, but he eventually remembered one of the lessons he had read about in his chakra control book about channelling chakra through his limbs to strengthen them. It took him a while to get the levels down, but he finally managed to stand up.

"Ugh, even after using chakra, I can still feel how heavy they are… I'm not going to be moving fast…" He figured it wouldn't matter much, because he would probably end up being caught within a day, but he was a bit upset that he wasn't going to be able to make it more difficult for whoever the Hokage had sent after him.

He spent the next hour or so stretching and getting his mobility back, it was difficult but he was able to move normally by this point, sadly he suddenly heard what sounded like a group of people talking. He moved towards the opening in the tree and peered outside.

As soon as his eyes became accustomed to the light he became worried by what he saw. Outside of the tree, and heading directly towards where he was hiding were a group of 6 men. The men weren't shinobi though, and they definitely weren't from Konoha, he was debating being pleased that the shinobi hadn't found him yet, sadly that was when one of the men in the group spotted him.

"Eh you, what do you think you're doing in our hideout?!" as soon as the man spoke his companions became aware of Naruto and started drawing their weapons. _"What the hell, why do I have the worst luck, are you kidding me Kami, what'd I ever do to you?" _Sadly for the blonde, the bandits took his silence as reason to start advancing on him. They weren't moving quickly, but they had begun to spread out, so that he couldn't get away.

"Sorry kid, but we can't have you telling anyone else where we have been hiding out."

"It's the end of the line for you."

The men were developing sadistic smiles as they saw the blonde freeze up, they weren't the sort of people who cared who they hurt, as far as they cared, the boy just happened to have bad enough luck to run into them.

Back with Naruto though, he was shocked, he was frozen, he saw them coming towards him, and talking about killing him. It was like he wasn't anything more than a piece of junk. He tried to move, but he couldn't, they just kept getting closer and closer. In his mind, Naruto was running through all the times he had been attacked, he had nearly been killed a few times, but someone had always shown up at the end and saved him. He knew that the Hokage wouldn't have let him die, even if he had done a terrible job keeping him safe, but there was no one who would help him this time, he was far from the only home he had ever known, and he felt just as helpless as he had when the mobs used to corner him.

Every fibre of his being was screaming at his body to move, but he just watched as they got closer. By now they were less than 10 metres from him, and they all had their weapons drawn. "Awww, is the little baby sacred?" One of the men joked while the others cackled back at him. Naruto watched as they laughed at him, and he saw one pull out a kunai, the man obviously wasn't skilled with the weapon, especially seeing as he managed to knick his finger with it as he flipped it around to get ready to throw. Naruto was still stuck, _"Why, why can't I move? I don't want to die here, I just found out about my clan… I have to revive my clan… I can't disappoint them… I WON'T LET THE WORLD FORGET MY CLAN!"_

All of a sudden Naruto felt like he was in control of himself, he saw the man throw the kunai at him, but he wasn't worried. He quickly rolled to the side and at the same moment shot out one of his arms, and caught the kunai out of the air.

He saw the shock on the men's faces at his reaction. Naruto slowly stood back up, and looked at the men. It was like time was frozen, and no one moved. Finally the man who seemed to be in charge of the gang shook himself.

"WHAT'RE YOU ALL WAITING FOR, GET THE BRAT!"

At this the group of men all charged at Naruto, he saw the first one swipe at him, and he dodged around to the side, he saw another blade coming down at him, and he used the kunai to block it. Naruto then quickly flipped over one of the bandits, and slashed at his neck with the kunai. He wasn't paying attention to exactly what he was doing; he was just letting his instinct take control.

He dodged under another slash, and lunged forward planting his 'borrowed' kunai into the man's stomach, seeing another man rush at him, he dived over the falling man's back, and rolled under another of the bandit's legs, he quickly slashed out, severing the tendons in the man's legs, before spinning around and planting the kunai in the side of the man's neck, he had hit the man with so much force that the kunai slipped out of his grip, seeing the three men who were still standing look at him with rage in their eyes, he jumped backwards, towards the other two fallen men, and grabbed their swords.

Once again the man who was in charge seemed to be shouting something, but Naruto wasn't able to hear it, the blood was pounding in his ears, drowning out all sound. The men charged again, not being particularly skilled in Kenjutsu, Naruto did his best to block all the slashes made at him, sadly he couldn't block them all, and he started gaining cuts and tears in his clothing.

Gritting his teeth to block out the pain Naruto jumped away from the men, and hurled the two swords at the men, two of them easily dodged the makeshift attack, but one was not as lucky as the sword managed to imbed itself deep into his chest. With a burst of speed Naruto rushed at the last two men, he was doing his best to dodge their swings and slashes, and after working his way inside their defences, he started lashing out at the men with his fists. He managed to make good contact with one of the men's elbow, and seemed to shatter it, moving quickly, he grabbed the kama from the man's hands, and slashed at his neck.

Jumping away again Naruto stood across from the man who had first told the men to kill him, he saw the man look shocked and enraged, he looked like he was yelling something, but he then charged at Naruto. Naruto waited as the man got closer, before he finally lunged, he launched himself towards the man, and slammed right into his chest. The bandit not being able to stand up against the chakra reinforced action was forced off his feet into a one of the nearby trees. Naruto dropped the kama when he flew towards the man, seeing man approach him again; Naruto jumped into his guard again, and dealt a devastating fist to the man's throat.

Jumping back Naruto stared at the man, as he saw he start to cough up blood as he fell forward onto his knees. It was at this moment that Naruto came down from his adrenaline fueled high, and looked around him. He was standing in the centre of a ring of his would be attackers, he watched as the last man kneeling before him, coughing up blood. He watched the man slowly fall forward face first into the ground.

Naruto finally looked down at himself, he saw that his feet were covered in blood, his pants had cuts and tears all over them, and were no longer orange because of all the blood that had gotten on them, his shirt was still black, but it was sticking to his chest in places where blood had seeped through it. Naruto was in a state of disbelief looking at himself, he wasn't sure what to think until he looked at his hands, and the last thing he saw was red, before he felt himself sinking to his knees and sobbing as he lost sight of the world around him.

-Not too Far Away-

Kakashi had been running all night, and all morning, he had been getting more and more worried as his clones had begun to dispel. He was getting worried that he wasn't going to be able to find the boy, he only had one clone left out searching, and he wasn't finding any signs of where the boy could have gone too. Most of his summons had returned to their realm some time ago, due to tiredness, and so now he only had Pakkun, who was still with him.

Suddenly he got hit with the memories from his last clone, he nearly missed catching himself on the next branch when he received the memories, the clone had been following a decent path for a time after the water, when the path seemed to disappear, it had stumbled across multiple paths, and made to follow one of them, after following one of the paths to what appeared to be a cave that was being used as a storage space for what his clone suspected was bandits it had begun making its way back to where the paths diverged.

It had been a few minutes away from its destination when it heard a blood curdling scream, and messed up its landing and ended up smashing into a tree dispelling itself.

As soon as he sorted through the memories, he shot off in the direction his clone had been heading, he knew he would take at least an hour to get there, but if by chance Naruto was around there, he had to find the boy, "Come on Pakkun, we've got to hurry."

-Back with Naruto-

"_I killed them… I killed them all…" _Naruto wasn't sure what to do, the last thing he remembered he had been covered in blood, the blood of them men who had attacked him. And now he was somehow in what looked like a sewer. He was an emotional wreck, he had been crying his eyes out for what felt like hours sitting in the darkness of the sewers.

He wiped his eyes again, and looked around. It looked just like tunnels as far as the eye could see, there was water on the floor, and it was dark. He slowly started walking down the tunnel he was currently inside. He walked for what felt like an hour until he saw what looked like a dim reddish light in the distance. _"Whatever this place is, it needs some better lighting."_ Naruto continued making his way towards the light. As he got closer he started feeling more and more anxious, he was getting worried about what was causing the reddish glow.

Even if he was worried his curiosity drove him to keep heading towards it, and he soon stumbled into what looked like a massive room. He looked around the room, and what he saw shocked him, at the far side of the room, massive bars rose out of the floor, and up into the ceiling, forming a gigantic gate. He slowly approached the gate, ignoring the ominous feeling he was getting from the other side, and examined the gate more closely. That is when he saw at the joining of the two sides of the gate, a slip of paper with the kanji for 'seal' in the centre.

"_Oh shit, this can't be what I think it is."_ Naruto's mind jumped connecting the seal and the ominous feeling to the demon he had sealed inside himself, but before he could even open his mouth he was interrupted by a dark voice filled with malice.

"**I am exactly what you're thinking you puny little fleshbag." **Naruto jumped at the voice, as a giant figure came into view from the other side of the gate. Naruto looked up as the figure seemed to almost reach the roof of the chamber as it stood, he could hardly make out the entire creature, but he saw the dark reddish orange figure. It was massive; the demon looked down at him. Naruto instantly felt afraid looking into the giant monster's red slitted eyes. They seemed to be the cause of the reddish glow. He was about to back away when he remembered his revelation about his clan, so he managed to keep himself from falling backwards.

"**I'm surprised fleshbag; you have more guts than I thought you would. I know you know what I am though." **Naruto took a moment to fully take control of himself again, his sense of self-preservation was telling him to run, but his brain was arguing back saying he couldn't be weak when it comes to a burden he was given to bear.

"**A burden am I fleshbag? You've got some nerve calling me that, come inside my cage so I can devour you, you worthless sack of meat." **Naruto was slightly shocked at the revelation that the fox could apparently hear his thoughts but quickly shook his head at that.

"Yeah, well at least I didn't get myself sealed into a baby for almost 13 years." Naruto knew it probably wasn't a good idea to torment a demon, but he couldn't help it, it was obviously his prankster side coming out.

"**ARGH CURSE YOU YONDAIME, AND THIS STUPID BRAT YOU STUCK ME IN, I'LL RIP YOUR SOUL OUT AND FEAST ON IT!"** Naruto felt both scared and amused as he saw the fox smash itself against the bars. He was worried that the fox could break free for a moment, until he thought about how fuinjutsu worked, and then realized that the fox was just pissed and he couldn't help but chuckle as he saw how worked up he could make the demon.

Sadly even through all it's cursing it still managed to hear the blondes chuckling. **"HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT THE GREAT KYŪBI and you are nothing more than my container…" **the fox was growling now, but it had stopped tearing at the gate.** "… but then again fleshbag, that little village of yours seemed to think we were one in the same."** The fox chuckled to himself as the saw the blonde stiffen at the memory of how he was mistreated. **"There you were, an even smaller fleshbag than you are now, and that women threw you out of the orphanage, calling you a demon… and then the mobs started, oh you were always hated, but when you got thrown out on the streets, then you started getting hunted."**

Naruto wanted to tell the fox to stop, but he couldn't muster up the will to, **"You used to cry so much when they would catch you, you would beg them to stop, you would cry as you asked what you had done. HAHAHA, You don't seem to understand fleshbag, they will always hate you for what I did. Those fools couldn't even begin to understand how little it affected me, in fact it was rather amusing to watch you scream, and beg for mercy.** The fox began chuckling again after finishing its rant.

Naruto was fighting back tears as the fox repeated some of the horrifying experiences of his life, but he managed to stop them from falling, and he controlled his face. "Well then fox, if it mattered so little to you, then why do you keep healing me? Why not just let me die? Oh yeah, IT'S CAUSE IF I DIE, THEN YOU GO WITH ME, SO SHUT THE HELL UP!"

It was now the foxes turn to look stunned; it had been planning on tormenting the boy for a good while longer, but seeing as the blonde had ruined its fun with that it started to growl. **"You stupid fleshbag, you are nothing to me, if it wasn't for that damn seal I could have long ago destroyed your village. Though I am surprised by the stupidity of your precious villagers, they decided it was a smart thing to try and kill the brat with the most powerful of all demons inside of him. I can make everyone who has ever wronged you suffer Naruto, just pull off the seal, and I can make all of your troubles disappear." **The fox thought it had phrased that rather well, when all of a sudden the blonde started laughing.

"Oh man, you must think I'm stupid or something… I mean, remove the seal? Come on fuzzball, I've been studying fuinjutsu for a couple months now, and you're telling me to release you so you can, 'take away my troubles?' wow, good try fox, but you just gave away one of your cards." The fox was confused at this when the blonde decided to speak again, "You just revealed that you have been observing my entire life, I mean, that has gotta be kinda embarrassing for the 'most powerful of all demons' having to watch a toddler nearly die of starvation, knowing that if it dies you will too, come on furball, I have been through a lot of shit, but you know better than anyone that I have never wanted revenge."

The fox was cursing inside its mind by this point when it recalled something, **"I kept you alive so I wouldn't die, and as much as I hate you right now, I have to say, even I am proud of how ruthlessly you took care of those men who just attacked you." **The fox grinned triumphantly as he saw the look on the boy's face instantly fall as he sunk to his knees and began sobbing again. **"You see fleshbag; you're more like me than you want to admit, you didn't even notice you had killed all those men until you met eyes with the last of them. They were beneath us, and you proved your dominance, but if you use my power, it will be so much easier to show the rest of the world their place too." **The fox was rather pleased with how it had managed to completely turn the conversation back in its favour as it began pushing it's chakra out towards the blonde. **"With my power we can take our rightful place in this world."** The fox was grinning at its success as he saw the boy fall farther into despair.

"Naruto"

Both the fox and the boy looked up at this, the voice had sounded faint, but it was still there. Looking around the fox cursed when he sensed that someone had found the boy's body, and was waking him up. **"We will meet again Naruto, and with time you will come seeking my power…"** With that the fox's chakra began receding back into its cage.

-Outside Naruto's Mindscape-

"NARUTO!" Kakashi had finally found the source of the scream, but he hadn't expected what he stumbled upon. Pakkun had warned him that there was a heavy scent of blood in the area which is what had caused him to yell out for the boy, but what he found had shocked him. He walked into a small clearing before a large tree and saw a field of red.

There was blood all around the area; it had seeped from the ring of bodies. However what caught his attention was the figure kneeling in the centre of the bodies, if he hadn't been watching over Naruto for a long while, he might not have recognized the boy, the blonde was covered in blood, Kakashi mind jumped to the worst conclusion as he hurried and kneeled next to the boy, _"Please be alright Naruto, I have failed you so many times already, please let me not have been too late again."_

Kakashi reached to the boy's neck and felt for a pulse, he waited a moment before he found it. He found that Naruto's pulse was strong, and he gently shook the boy's shoulders. Kakashi had to wait a moment before he got any sign of movement, but he hadn't expected the first thing to happen would be for the boy to take a shaky breath, collapse on himself and start sobbing.

* * *

BAM, done another chapter. I hope you guys liked it, as I mentioned it was one of my favourite ones to write so far. It has been a really stressful few days, and I really am unsure about how I've done in my exams, and I'm not even done them yet, but that's not really important to the story. Anyhow though, enough of my problems, I really hope you guys enjoyed it. I was slightly worried when it came to writing a big fight scene, but I hope you all enjoyed it.

I feel like I should explain something here though in case I was causing some worry that Naruto was becoming really powerful or anything like that. I'd just like to mention that the guys Naruto fought were just really a group of civilian thugs, whereas Naruto is a trained shinobi, who has been working himself into the ground to get stronger. So I felt that even if he was outnumbered they wouldn't really be any huge threat to him. It is mentioned that running into bandits aren't uncommon on C ranked missions, so a genin being able to handle them seemed reasonable enough to me.

Also I hope you guys liked the bit with the fox, I figured it would be a good introduction for him, nothing too long, but just enough to establish it as a character. Also I'm sorry to disappoint all the people who thought they might be seeing some of Uzu, but Naruto won't be visiting there for a while yet. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, if you did enjoy it leave a comment, and any suggestions you have for me, if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Anyhow, Ja Ne,  
**~FeJazz**


	6. Chapter 6 - History and Home

Hey Everyone, I want to start out by saying I'm really sorry it took so long to put this chapter out. After I finished exams I was going through a really bad time, and it took a while to get myself back together. On top of that I also started working construction, and I work really long days, so I don't have as much time as I would like. However the biggest issue is that I had to restart this chapter like three times because I wasn't fond of how it was going. But anyways now all that stuff is over with, and I'll be getting back to my regular schedule, and I'll be posting weekly on Sunday's again.

Anyhow, I'm sure you're all tired of hearing me talk so I'll let you get to reading, I'd just like to say thank's again for taking the time to read my story, and if you enjoyed it, please leave a review.

Now without further ado, I present to you Chapter 6.

* * *

"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

* * *

**Chapter 6 – History and Home**

Kakashi was making his way back towards Konoha; he was walking slightly behind the young Uzumaki, and was repeatedly thanking Kami that he had managed to catch up with the blonde. He was still shocked slightly when he looked back on how he had found the blonde just a few hours earlier. The boy had been covered in blood and surrounded by bodies. He had been worried about what may have happened, and then the boy was crying and talking about how 'the villagers' being right about him. That had upset Kakashi quite a bit, and so he had spent quite a while getting the whole story of what had occurred out of the blonde.

To say Kakashi had been upset wouldn't have covered it. When he had gotten Naruto to start talking he hadn't been expecting the boy to talk about the hateful stares he would get. Looking back at the conversation, Kakashi thought that Naruto probably hadn't even really been talking to him, but more ranting, because he had finally reached a point where he couldn't take any more emotional abuse. So Kakashi had listened to Naruto talk about how the villagers had always mistreated him, going so far as chasing him down with mobs, he talked about the academy and how almost all the teachers kicking him out of class if he had asked questions. One of the recurring themes in the boys rant was how the village had betrayed and dishonored the memory of his clan.

When Naruto's rant had caught up to the present time, and he had talked about what had happened with the bandits, Kakashi was torn between being worried for Naruto's safety and being impressed with how well Naruto had managed to deal with the life and death situation. He had been shocked when Naruto continued to talk about the fox and how it had claimed that he was a demon just like it. That had freaked Kakashi out, hearing that Naruto had conversed with the Kyūbi, but he had been more concerned with calming Naruto down at the time than the demon talking with the boy. It had taken quite a while, but he had managed to help calm Naruto down, to the point where they could talk, he had explained to the blonde that they were shinobi, and they were trained from a young age to kill. It was their job, and sadly the academy isn't really capable of preparing a person for the first time they are forced to do so.

Only recently had he asked Naruto what he had meant by the village dishonouring the memory of his clan. What Naruto told him only angered him further. _"I can't believe how far the village has strayed… how can we wear their symbol and still hold our heads high."_ Kakashi had only listened to the boys explanations, and remained silent. That brought them up back to now, the two shinobi walking in silence.

As the two walked, Naruto was still going over the last 24 hours in his head. He had ran away from the village, killed 6 men, met the demon sealed within himself and was now being escorted back by a man named Hatake Kakashi. He was feeling better than he had been before he spoke with the masked man, but was still feeling guilty about killing the men. He had realized after speaking with Kakashi that the demon had probably just been trying to corrupt him or something, but he still was working on fully coming to terms with the fact that he had ended several men's lives. _"Stupid freaking fox, with all the crap I'm already dealing with it had to try and mess with me now…"_

When the two crossed one of the streams on the route back to the village, Naruto took some time to wash as much of the blood out of his clothes as he could. As he looked over himself he knew that it was officially the end for his signature orange jumpsuit. He had torn up his jacket before he had initially ran away, because it had been given to him by the old man, but after reading about his clan he couldn't wear it, so he took his clans emblem from it, and left the jacket behind. As for the rest of his outfit, his pants had dozens of cuts in them, and were now stained with quite a bit of blood.

He sighed at losing the outfit that had become his trademark, but he accepted it, _"I guess I can always just use the Henge no Jutsu when I go out and buy some new clothes, well either that, or I can just ask Iruka-sensei to come with me… I'm not going with the old man, that's for sure."_ Thinking of the man he had viewed as his surrogate grandfather made Naruto feel betrayed once again, but pushed that thought aside for the moment.

"Hatake-san… did you know Uzumaki Kushina?" Naruto had decided that based on Kakashi's reaction to what he told him about the Uzumaki histories, and what had happened to them Kakashi at least knew about the Uzumaki, so he figured it couldn't hurt to ask about his mother. He figured there was a chance that he might not tell him anything, but if he had known his mother he had to ask.

Kakashi was slightly surprised by the sudden question; after all, aside from asking to stop for a few minutes to get clean some blood off himself, Naruto hadn't spoken for almost half an hour. Kakashi stayed silent for a moment considering how he should answer the blonde's question. He only debated it for a minute before he decided that the boy had been lied to far too much, and he could at least tell him a little about his mother. "Yes Naruto, I knew Kushina-san, she was a great women, and an even greater shinobi. What would you like to know about her?"

Naruto was shocked that Kakashi had decided to answer his questions, and decided to take this opportunity to learn everything about the woman who had brought him into the world. "I want to know everything you can tell me about her, what she was like, her hobbies, the stuff she liked?"

Kakashi was wondering just how much he had gotten himself into when he offered to tell the boy about his mother, after all, he was never one for talking about lost comrades, especially when it was related to anyone close to his old sensei. "Alright Naruto, I'll tell you what I know, but try and remember that I don't know everything… after all she was quite a bit older than me… (Sigh), well where to start?" Kakashi and Naruto kept walking for a few minutes in silence, Naruto struggling to maintain his patience as Kakashi went through all that he had known about his old sensei's wife.

"Well Naruto, your mother was well known for her looks, she had violet eyes, and she had the red hair that was often considered a trademark of those from the Uzumaki clan. You are actually a lot like her Naruto. From what I heard when she was younger she was also really stubborn and impulsive, by the time I got to know her she was more level-headed, but she had a temper, and she wasn't someone you wanted to get angry, I remember a time- actually I'll save that story for later…" Kakashi stopped talking for a moment to gather his thoughts up again, he had nearly started talking about Kushina and the Yondaime, but he composed himself and started talking again.

"Anyhow, your mother became well known for her Fuinjutsu skills, as well as her Kenjutsu skills. She was also rather skilled when it came to Taijutsu, she became well known for beating anyone who would stand up against her to a pulp with her fists." Kakashi paused and looked over at Naruto to see how the blonde was dealing with all that he was hearing, and he was pleased to see the boy was smiling slightly.

"Now I don't know a lot about your mother's childhood, but from what I know I believe she was sent to Konoha to train at the academy slightly before her home village was destroyed. I assume she was sent there to keep her out of danger, sadly though the rest of her clan perished, and her original home was destroyed, so she remained in Konoha. She was fiercely proud of her clan, and I know she was looking forward to being your mother. I only met her when I was 11, she was a remarkable woman, and it was truly a loss for the village when she died."

At this Naruto looked down and held back some tears he felt growing in his eyes. He had decided he would be strong for his clan, and now he knew who his mother was. He was happy to hear that he had taken after her in a lot of ways, and was slightly upset that he didn't look anything like her. _"I bet I would've looked cool with red hair… "_

"Hatake-san… do you know if there are any of my families clan scrolls in the village? I would like to honour the memory of my clan, and the memory of my mother, so if there are any of my families scrolls in the village I would like to see them…" Naruto had wanted to ask the Hokage about them, but he wasn't sure whether or not the Hokage would give him anything from his family, after all the Hokage had denied any knowledge of his family his entire life.

"I'm not sure Naruto, I believe that when your mother came to Konoha she only brought a few scrolls with her, but I'm sure that the Hokage would have those, any other scrolls would probably still be in the ruins of her old village… but I would guess they might have all been stolen by now…" Naruto sighed at this; he had already decided he was going to visit the ruins of Uzu someday, now he just had another reason to do so. He wasn't happy about it, but he was going to ask the old man for his mother's scrolls, now that Naruto knew they existed the Hokage couldn't lie about them.

"Well I guess I'm going to have to get them from the old man… well I was going to need to talk to him anyway… umm Hatake-san, I'm guessing if you knew my mother then you knew my father as well, I couldn't find anything out about him, or even his name… could you please tell me about him?" As Naruto looked at Kakashi he saw him stiffen at the mention of his father. Kakashi took a deep breath and looked as if he was struggling with himself over the question; finally he sighed and turned back towards Naruto.

"You're father… Naruto, as much as I wish I could tell you about him I can't."

"What do you mean, why not?"

"Naruto, you're father's identity is a secret, in fact I don't think that there are more than 5 people in total who know who he was… I'm sorry but I can't tell you about that. I promise one day I will, but for now… you'll just have to wait." Kakashi watched Naruto to see his reaction, but was surprised when he just shrugged.

"Alright Kakashi, just so long as it's not like the fox, where everyone but me knows about it… So could you tell me any more about my mother, I'd like to know everything I can about her?"

The two made their way back to the village discussing Kushina, and some of her exploits, Naruto was happy to hear that she had also been a prankster, and was shocked when he heard Kakashi tell him some stories about missions she had gone on. When the pair reached the gates of the village Kakashi noticed Naruto tense up, and quickly decided to calm the boy down. "Naruto remember, we're just going to go talk with the Hokage, you don't need to worry about the villagers." Naruto didn't seem to calm down at this, but he nodded nonetheless.

As the pair made their way through the gates Kakashi paused for a moment to speak with the Chūnin on gate duty, to explain why they were there. He just told them that they had gone out to deal with a small group of bandits in the area.

The two guards told the pair to make their way to the Hokage tower to report their success, and that they would be free to go about their business after that. The glare Naruto received from the civilians as they made their way through the village did not go unnoticed to either of the two shinobi. Kakashi sighed when he saw the way the villagers looked at Naruto and was about to say something to reassure the boy when Naruto did something he wouldn't have expected.

Naruto saw all the villagers staring at him with their hate filled eyes, and he tried to hold down his upset at it, _"Stupid villagers… why can't they see me as the prison instead of the monster inside… No, that's it. If they're going to do this I'll give them a reason to worried, how stupid can a village be, thinking it's a smart idea to antagonize and torture a person who holds the demon who destroyed their villages?"_ Naruto used his chakra to create a field of immense pressure in the surrounding area. It wasn't anything like the KI that many shinobi make use of to intimidate, and get an upper hand on their opponents, it was just pressure.

The civilians glaring at Naruto felt themselves freeze in place, if you asked any of them how they had felt, they would have said that it was like the air was trying to push them to the ground, but the same force was also holding them in place. The only reaction that Naruto got from the villagers was their hate filled eyes turning to shock as well as worry. He met eyes with one of the villagers, and smirked slightly at the look of shock in the man's eye.

"Let's go Naruto; we can't keep Hokage-sama waiting…" Kakashi wasn't sure if he should reprimand Naruto for what he had done or not, strictly speaking shinobi weren't supposed to use their powers on civilians, but then again, most shinobi haven't spent their entire lives running from hordes of civilians trying to string them up.

Naruto sighed and his expression shifted from a smirk to a blank face. "Very well Hatake-san, let's not keep the Hokage waiting." Naruto stopped releasing his chakra and turned away from the villagers, following after Kakashi.

The masked shinobi led the blonde to the Hokage tower without further incident. The pair made their way up the staircase and quickly found themselves before the doorway to the Hokage's office, after Kakashi spoke briefly with the secretary she told them that they should head right in. Kakashi raised a fist and knocked on the door twice quickly before they received word to enter.

As they walked into the room the door swung shut behind the pair, and Naruto looked upon the one man whom he had always trusted. The man who he had viewed as his grandfather, and the first person who he had ever truly trusted… for the first time in Naruto's life the sight of the Hokage made Naruto angry. He had been betrayed by the man he had trusted most, and no matter what justification the old man might have, Naruto just couldn't forgive him.

The Hokage had let out a sigh of relief earlier when he got word from Kakashi that he was returning with Naruto, but he was worried of the state the boy would be in when they returned. He now had the young blonde standing before him, and he knew something was very wrong. He quickly signaled that the ANBU leave his office, and turned back to Kakashi and Naruto. "Hatake-san, I appreciate how well you carried out your task, I am very grateful that you have brought Naruto back to us."

"Of course Hokage-sama, I was just happy that Naruto was not injured when I caught up with him. Though there was much that will need to be put in the report, though it would be better for Naruto to explain all that happened himself." The Hokage sighed as he looked from Kakashi to Naruto, he was worried about how Kakashi was acting, and was even more worried about what it was that happened to Naruto, but right now was the time for him to be the Hokage, and he needed Naruto to explain why he had left like he did.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I do hope you realize the seriousness of your actions last night. It is not permitted for a shinobi to simply leave the village without authorization, what reason do you have for acting as you did?" The Hokage had spoken with a harsh tone, but was truly concerned for the boy, no one knew better that he how much the child had suffered, and he wanted to fix whatever caused the issue as quickly as possible.

"I am confused Hokage-sama," as soon as Naruto said Hokage-sama, Sarutobi knew things were far worse than he feared, "- as far as I am aware, I broke no such law. Seeing as I have yet to be listed in the official shinobi record book of Konohagakure, I am not officially a shinobi, and as such I am not subject to any laws prohibiting my movement."

To say the Hokage and Kakashi were shocked would be an understatement, thankfully for Kakashi's sake he had his mask to cover the lower half of his face, but the Hokage was staring at Naruto with his jaw hitting the floor. _"Was that Naruto, just spouting off village laws, and using technicalities to get out of trouble?! What?"_ This was the train of thought both men had, but sadly the thought didn't last as Naruto once again opened his mouth to speak, "On the other hand, the village council, and by extension the whole of Konohagakure, has betrayed, and dishonoured the memory of their allies the Uzumaki, and Uzushiogakure." When Naruto spoke, the Hokage could hear the anger coming from the boy.

"What do you mean Naruto?"

"Don't try it Hokage-sama, I found out about Kushina, and I know you've been lying to me about her my whole life, and I know about the Uzumaki Clan as well. I want my family scrolls old man, they are mine by birthright, and I don't know why you decided to get rid of practically everything there was on the history of my clan, but as of this moment, the village hidden in the leaves is forbidden from using my clan's symbol as penalty for betraying the trust my clan placed in them."

The Hokage was once again floored by what Naruto had said. He was confused by Naruto saying he had gotten rid of the villages information about the Uzumaki clan, and he wasn't sure what he could say in defense when it came to Kushina, he had wanted the boy to learn about her on his own, because of the council interfering with him, but he didn't know how it caused the boy to react like this. The thing the boy had said that worried the Hokage most was him revoking the right to wear the Uzumaki Spiral, he couldn't even begin to think about what an uproar that would cause in the council, and with the general shinobi population. "Naruto, please be reasonable, I know I should have told you about Kushina earlier, but I had my reasons for keeping it from you, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't…"

"Save it old man, you're the Hokage, the most powerful man in the village, if you wanted to tell me about my mother you could have. I want my family scrolls, and I want the shinobi to stop wearing my clan's symbol by the time of team assignments." Hiruzen had been surprised by the blonde many times in his life, but what the boy was saying now had to be the most surprising things he had ever heard from the boy, he could hear the hurt, pain, anger and betrayal felt in the boys voice and he could do nothing but hang his head in shame. He knew he had lost something very important this day, something that would be nearly impossible to get back. He had lost the trust of the boy who he had viewed as family. _"Naruto, I'm so sorry…"_

The Hokage took a few minutes to compose himself before he unlocked one of the drawers of his desk, and pulled out a scroll and placed it on the table. It was not large, but it had the Uzumaki symbol on it, and Naruto could make out a storage seal on the scroll. He also noticed a few other markings on the seal, and concluded that it must be a blood seal, meaning that only he should be able to open it, he looked back up at the man who he had trusted and spoke again. "Don't worry Hokage-sama; your jinchūriki isn't planning on running away again. But I don't plan on taking all that crap from the villagers anymore, I'd recommend you keep the council away from me, after all they should realize that it's not a good idea to antagonize the one person inside the village that if you piss off to much could quite literally let loose a demon on them."

The Hokage could only look down at his feet as Naruto turned and exited the office, he just stood there for a few minutes before Kakashi spoke to him, "Hokage-sama, are you alright, should I go bring Naruto back here?"

"No Kakashi, Naruto was entirely correct, as he is not yet listed in the official shinobi record I am not allowed to restrict his movement… What happened out there Kakashi-san, what happened to Naruto that made him like this?" The Hokage saw Kakashi look hesitant before he gestured for the Hokage to sit back down, explaining that it was going to be a long story.

"Well it started early this morning shortly after sunrise when I was still searching for Naruto and one of my clones heard a scream…"

-Back at Naruto's Apartment-

Naruto had barely held himself together as he dashed back from the Hokage's office, he was barely holding himself together, and he was desperately trying to calm himself down. He had taken the roofs all the way across the village at full speed; he hadn't wanted to have to deal with any of the villagers so he kept away from them. By the time he had seen his apartment, he had reinforced each move he made with chakra, essentially making him blast off the roofs with each step he took, to anyone who saw him, he would have just appeared as a blur. He flipped over in mid-air and landed on the side of his apartment building and ran straight up the wall till he reached his floor. He walked through the door and collapsed onto his bed allowing his emotions to overtake him.

Naruto wasn't sure how much time had passed while he was in bed, but eventually he calmed down and sat up._ "Well I guess I should take a look into the scroll and see what's in there…"_ Naruto stood up and walked back into his living room. He sat down on the couch and pulled the scroll out of his pocket, looking at it closely it looked far more intricate than it had when he took it from the Hokage, he had initially just noticed the blood seal on it, with the Uzumaki crest, now though he saw that the entire scroll was decorated with intricate spirals blending into one another. Just the look of it was entrancing, made him thing of water swirling through itself, and endless whirling tide. Slowly he took a breath and bit his finger; he rubbed some blood on the seal and channelled his chakra into it.

The scroll that fit comfortably in his hand started to expand till it was around half the size of the forbidden scroll. He was surprised by this, but he figured it was just an expansion seal, he had read about them briefly, but there wasn't a whole lot of information on them in the village so he hoped that there would be something on them in the scroll.

As he unrolled the scroll a sheet of paper fell out of it onto the floor, he read the first line, and was shocked to see it was addressed to him,

_Naruto,_

_If you are reading this, then it means I'm not there with you to teach you all about our clan. I'm so sorry for leaving you, and I hope you know I wish I didn't do it. You're father and I decided that when we found out I was pregnant that we should each write you a letter in case we're not there for you. I don't know how I died, but I'm so sorry, I didn't get to watch you grow up. I was so looking forward to seeing you become a splendid shinobi; I hope you know that your father and I love you more than anything else. You are our greatest gift, and I really hope that you have your father around so he can tell you all about me. I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this that he gave it to you. This scroll is what my father gave me when they sent me to Konoha to keep me away from the war. I never had the heart to return home after my family was lost, so I don't know if there are any of our scrolls left there, but this scroll has a lot of our family teachings in it. I know you might want to learn everything your father has to teach you, but the Uzumaki clan techniques are some of the best in the world. I really hope you don't ever have to read this letter Naruto-kun, but I want you to know that I will always be proud of you no matter what, and that I love you, and even if I'm not there to tell you, you should know how loved you are. _

_Kushina_

_P.S. Find a great girl just like your mom Naruto, and don't only eat ramen, as delicious as it is, you should eat more than just that, otherwise you'll stunt your growth._

Naruto had reached the end of the letter and was holding back tears from his eyes. He was holding in his hands a letter, written to him by his mother, he wasn't sure how to feel about what he had read. He had wished that his mother had told him about his father, but he figured that she thought that if she had died he would still be around. He spent the next half hour going over the letter a few more times, reaffirming everything he had read. He had spoken to Kakashi about his mother, but reading his mother's letter made her seem far more real to him, she had had hopes, and she had had dreams for him. She had wanted to be there for him while he grew up, and she even wrote him the letter in case she wasn't able to be there for him.

"_I promise I'll make you proud mom. And I will rebuild our clan, and make it stronger than ever, -ttebayo."_ Naruto folded the letter carefully and placed it in the drawer beside his bed, he then returned to the living room, and began looking through the Uzumaki scroll. _"Well let's what's in here to learn."_ Naruto spent the next hour going over all the different things on the scroll. As he guessed earlier, the scroll was full of seals containing additional scrolls, he found some scrolls on different types of seals, including the seal that increased and decreased the size of the scroll itself. He was shocked at the sheer number of scrolls that the one scroll contained.

He continued searching through the scrolls, until he stumbled upon one of the things he had been looking for, he saw the Uzumaki family Taijutsu scrolls. He dropped everything else and began reading through the forms of Fudōken, the floating fist. He wasn't sure how long he studied the forms, but he was brought out of his studying when his stomach started rumbling. He sighed as he set the scrolls down and moved over to his kitchen and began preparing some food for himself. He spent the next few minutes standing before his stove cooking himself dinner.

Kakashi had been crouching in one of Naruto's window's and watched as the boy went to cook some food, he was feeling a bit hungry himself, but after he had been dismissed from the Hokage's office he had come straight to Naruto's apartment, and had arrived to find Naruto going through the scrolls on his table. He watched out of curiosity for a while, and decided he would wait to get food till he spoke with Naruto; he just wasn't sure how exactly he should approach the boy. He was running through ideas when he saw Naruto walk back into the room and place two bowls on the table after sealing the majority of scrolls back into the main scroll.

Kakashi was surprised when he heard Naruto speak up, "So Hatake-san, are you going to come in, or are you just going to just sit there watching me for another hour?" Kakashi nearly fell off the window sill, but managed to catch himself and stepped in and sat at the table.

"How did you notice me Naruto, I made sure I was silent?"

"I've always been good at figuring out when people are watching me; also, a grown man sitting in my window frame isn't that difficult to see, I mean you didn't even really bother to hide yourself. So what would you like Hatake-san, did the Hokage send you to drag me back because of my attitude?"

Kakashi sat down across from the table, and thanked Naruto for the food before he started speaking again, "No Naruto, I decided I should come by and see how you were doing, I know how much you care about the Hokage, and I figured that you must be upset after what happened." Naruto remained silent while Kakashi spoke; he focused mainly on his food, and was once again very grateful he had learned how to cook for himself. One of the many plus sides he had discovered about cooking for himself is that he could eat whenever he wanted without having to go buy food.

"Well I'm fine Hatake-san… I'm just going through my families scrolls."

"I see, well I think you should know that I told the Hokage everything that you told me after I found you, but aside from that if you would like any help with the scrolls, I can offer some assistance, I may not be an Uzumaki, but I did see your mother fight several times."

Naruto wasn't at all surprised to hear that the man had told the Hokage everything, so he decided to comment on it, he was interested in seeing if the man would be able to help him at least figure out some of the basics for his mother's taijutsu style. "Well since you offered, do you think you could help me with some of the basics of my mother's taijutsu style, it is really complicated?"

Kakashi cringed at that, if there was one thing he doubted he'd be able to help with it was the Uzumaki taijutsu style, he had tried to study it with his Sharingan once, but Kushina had beaten him to a pulp saying he wasn't allowed to learn the style, if she was anything, she was very protective of her family history. "Umm, actually that's one of the few things I can't really help with…" Kakashi saw the blonde's face fall and sighed knowing he'd have to call in a big favour for what he was about to say, "however, I do happen to know the village's resident Taijutsu master, and I'm sure I could convince him to help you work on it… but I have to warn you he is a bit… extreme."

Naruto perked up at Kakashi's words, he'd introduce him to the village's taijutsu master, well that had to be good. He only hoped that whoever the guy was he wasn't too insane, but then again he figured he could handle whatever the guy could throw at him.

Naruto and Kakashi spoke for a little while longer, before Kakashi asked Naruto to meet him near one of the training grounds the next morning at 5 so he could introduce him to the village's taijutsu master. The blonde was ecstatic to think about learning his family's style, and after Kakashi told him about how his mother had quite literally beaten him into the ground a few times with it, it just made him more and more excited.

After Kakashi left Naruto sealed all the scrolls back into the main Uzumaki scroll, and locked it into his nightstand and put a locking seal on it, it would only react to his chakra so he figured it would be safe there for now, and he'd create a more secure seal for it later. After all he finally had something of his families and he wasn't going to let anyone take it away from him. Naruto quickly went to sleep dreaming about the next morning and training; if only he knew what it would really be like then those dreams would have been more like nightmares…

* * *

BAM, done chapter 6, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I know it probably wasn't the most enthralling chapter, but I put some hints in there for some of the stuff to come. Now I once again would like to apologize for how long it took to get this chapter out, I promise it won't happen again. I've been going through some stuff and I had trouble writing this chapter, but don't worry, I have a ton of ideas for the next few chapters, and I'm really excited to write them. However I need you guys help with one very important thing, in one of the next chapters (maybe even chapter 7) the team announcements is going to happen. I've heard some stuff from a lot of people and some of you guys were concerned about what team Naruto would be on, so I'm going to let you guys decide. I leave you guys 2 options, I have a whole bunch of ideas for each of them, but I write this story for the people who read it, so I want to know what you guys want. So the choice you guys have is between Naruto being on the classic team 7, or being on his own with a mystery teacher. I have already decided who his sensei is going to be if you guys don't want him on team 7, but I'd like to know which you all would like to see more.

Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and don't think Naruto was to mean to the Hokage, just remember that Naruto is still high on his emotions right now, and he's going to cool down soon, but he's not going to be on friendly terms with him for a while. But now I must start writing chapter 7, a lot is going to be happening in rapid succession, so keep on reading guys.

As always please leave a review, and let me know what you think about the two options I put out for the teams, the sooner I get you're opinions on the teams the sooner I can complete the next chapter, so I look forward to hearing from you. Also if you have any questions for me feel free to PM me.

Anyhow, Ja Ne,

**~FeJazz**


	7. Chapter 7 - Dreamers

****Hey Everyone, sorry I know it's a little bit later than I wanted, but it's better than the time it took for the last update. I've been really busy lately, but I have more time to do my writing, so I hope you guys aren't too upset. I wanted to say I really appreciated all the reviews you guys left me last week, I really care about what you guys think of my story, and your input is very appreciated. I wanted to say thanks to everyone who answered my question about team options, and I hope you guys all keep leaving me reviews, because I like hearing what your guys think.

I enjoyed writing this chapter I left some hints at the end of the last chapter, and I really do hope you guys enjoy this one. I think it was fun, especially after the more serious few chapter's we've had recently. So this one is a bit more light hearted, but enough of that. If you guys enjoy it feel free to leave a review, and I hope you do.

Oh, and by the way, despite my attempts I still do not own Naruto.

So without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 7

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"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 7 – Dreamers**

Naruto was on his way towards the training ground Kakashi had specified the night before. He hadn't gotten a full night's sleep, because in his sleep he had relived killing the bandits over and over again. If he had to guess he would have said it was the fox trying to mess with him, but because he had no way of stopping it after a few hours he had given up and had gone back to studying his family's scroll. He had made the chief focus of his studies Fudōken, he figured he should at least try and start working on the katas that formed the style before he met with the village's taijutsu master, and so he had spent the majority of the night working on that.

As of now it was nearly 4:30 in the morning, he figured it wouldn't hurt to be a little early. He figured that if the taijutsu master arrived to find him already training, he might be more inclined to help him, because it just showed how dedicated he was to his training. Naruto was still having a bit of trouble moving at his full speeds because of how much he had increased his weights by the day before. He was directing a bit more chakra than usual to his limbs to help ease the stress on his muscles, but he still wanted to get the maximum benefit of using his weights, and he wasn't entirely sure if the chakra would slow down how fast he got used to the weights.

One of the things he had noticed though was the increased destructive power of his punches and kicks when he fueled them with chakra. He related it back to when he had learned tree walking. It had been a lot of trial and error trying to find the exact amount of chakra required to walk on the trees. He had been working on the tree climbing exercise for nearly three weeks when he finally lost it after he once again slipped off the tree. His solution had been to gather as much chakra as possible at his feet, and he ran at the tree. The first thing he should have noticed was how fast he was going. The second thing should have been the large imprints he was making in the ground. However all his attention was directed at the tree he was intent on climbing. He swore he would remember what happened next for the rest of his life; he planted his foot on the tree, and in a split second he knew that it wasn't going to end well.

As he was about to push off to try and make another step, the tree was blasted apart. Naruto found himself being shot through the air, and but his eyes were stuck on the tree, which was now beginning to fall over, due to the large chunk that had apparently been blown off of it. He had been so shocked by what he had just done he barely registered the fact that the tree was falling towards him. Thankfully he had good enough reaction time to get out of the way, but he wasn't about to forget the tree nearly falling on top of him.

Naruto brought himself back into the current moment, and saw he was arriving in the training ground. He took a few minutes to look around. He was slightly shocked to see the condition of the training grounds. The training posts seemed to be all worn away, and many of the trees surrounding the area seemed to have undergone similar treatment. He was surprised that the village had allowed the condition of the training ground to deteriorate so much; he guessed from the state of it that the equipment hadn't been replaced in at least 5 years, and all the equipment was supposed to be replaced every six months.

The blonde began his warm-up with 15 minutes of stretching. He wanted to make sure he would be able to do whatever the taijutsu master suggested, and he had learned very early in his training how important stretching was to a successful workout. After finishing his stretches, Naruto summoned a few clones to work on chakra control, and went for a run around the clearing. He finished his run and still had a few minutes before he was supposed to meet the Kakashi and his friend so he decided to have a light spar with his clones while he waited.

He had only just begun to get into his spar when he began hearing shouting in the distance. He was initially unnerved but as soon as it became clear that the shouts were not pained, or strained he focused back on his spar. He grew slightly worried when he noticed that the voices were getting closer and hoped that whoever it was wasn't going to bother him.

Naruto decided to just ignore what he now recognized as two voices, and completely focused on his spar. He couldn't afford to get distracted in his spar. If he wanted to get the most benefit out of it, he needed to give the fight his full attention… or at least he tried to give the fight his full attention. The voices he had just heard were closer, much closer. Whoever it was who had been shouting was moving towards him, and they were moving fast. He was about to turn back to continue his spar when suddenly a pair of green blurs flew through the trees between him and his clones.

Naruto was so shocked he wasn't paying any attention to what the two figures were saying. He just slowly looked towards the two figures that had slid to a stop at the other end of the training area and blinked repeatedly trying to come to terms to the two shinobi's appearance. He had initially thought he was seeing double, but even after rubbing his eyes the two figures remained where they staring at him in confusion.

The pair both had the same black bowl cut hair, the taller one was wearing a flak vest, they were both wearing bright orange leg warmers, and the shorter one was wearing bandages around his forearms and hands. The pair was both wearing their hitai-ate around their wastes. The next thing that caught his attention was the bright green one piece spandex jumpsuits. He tore his eyes up from the horrible jumpsuits and his eyes caught sight of something even more horrifying. "E-e-e-EYEBROWS!" Naruto was so shocked by the humongous eyebrows that the pair had he jumped backwards and smashed into a tree.

Naruto took a second to steady himself as he stood back up. He took a deep breath and looked back towards the pair of clones and waited for them to say something. The pair just looked at the blonde haired t-shirt wearing genin. After a minute of silence the shorter of the two spoke up, "Gai-sensei, this silence is killing me, I will begin my morning workout!" This seemed to catch the older man's attention as he blinked and turned towards the younger spandex wearing shinobi.

"YOSH, Lee you will start with a run around the village… On your hands!"

"Thank you sensei, if I cannot complete this task in 15 minutes, I will do 500 pushups!" With that the shinobi identified as Lee flipped onto his hands and took off towards the outer wall of the village.

Naruto was trying to understand the insanity he had just witnessed when the man named Gai turned to him. "So, who are you that is training so youthfully this fine morning?"

Naruto just stared at the man, "What?"

"I see, our most youthful arrival must have startled you, I am Maito Gai, the one who just left is my most youthful student, Rock Lee. Now my new youthful friend, who are you?"

Naruto once again took his time to compose himself before speaking. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, village pariah, and I'm here to meet somebody." Naruto was getting more and more worried the longer he spent with Gai, he was worried he had misheard which training ground he had been supposed to meet Kakashi at, because it was now a few minutes after 5 and shinobi were all drilled in how important punctuality was.

"Ah, I see, who is it who told you to meet up with them at this most youthful time in our training ground?"

Naruto had been in his own world trying to think of why Kakashi might not be there to meet him and was worried that he had been tricked again, "Hmm, what'd you say?" Whatever the reaction Naruto expected from the older shinobi he hadn't expected what he saw.

Gai's face seemed to convulse, and his eyes seemed to be replaced with fires. "AGH, you too have that un-youthful hip and cool attitude, just like Kakashi…"

Naruto however only heard the name Gai mentioned, "Wait, you know Hatake Kakashi, he told me to meet him here at 5?"

"So you do know my legendary rival Kakashi-san, no wonder you have that darned hip and cool attitude, I have known Kakashi for years, though I am sorry to say young Naruto, Kakashi has the most un-youthful tendency of always being horribly late. However if you would like, you are more than welcome to train with Lee and I until he arrives."

Naruto was a bit unsure of if he really wanted to be training with the eccentric shinobi he had just met, but he did have to admit that the man and his student were fast, and as insane as the pair seemed, they also appeared to be fond of pushing themselves to the limits. "Umm, sure, it can't hurt, I just hope the guy Hatake-san wanted me to meet isn't as slow as he is."

"I see, so who is it that my rival wanted you to meet?"

"Well he was telling me about how he knew someone who could help me work on my family's taijutsu style, because he wasn't able to himself. He said that the guy was supposed to be the village's taijutsu master…"

"YOSH, I ALWAYS KNEW THAT KAKASHI WOULD BE FORCED TO ACKNOWLEDGE MY SKILLS, YES, MY FIRES OF YOUTH HAVE NEVER BURNED BRIGHTER! COME MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND WE MUST SHARE OUR YOUTHFULLNESS WITH ALL!"

Naruto was panicking now, from what he could understand form the madman's yelling, this was the man who Kakashi said was the village taijutsu master. He was having a lot of trouble believing that someone as seemingly insane, thankfully Gai didn't seem like he was doing much, aside from running around the training grounds at nearly impossible speeds. He watched as Gai burned off his newfound burst of energy. Not that Naruto thought the man would ever need excess energy.

It took nearly 10 minutes for the green clad man to seem to realize he'd been running in circles shouting about his youthful success, and finally calmed down enough to speak again with Naruto. "So my youthful rival sent you to seek me out. What style did he say I would be able to assist you with learning?"

"It's called Fudōken; it is my clan's taijutsu style."

Gai looked lost in thought for a few moments before he finally spoke, "Fudōken, the lost taijutsu style of the Uzumaki clan, you were definitely right in seeking me out to assist you with learning it. There are not many taijutsu masters left today who could help one learn the style."

"Wait, so you'll teach me? –ttebayo!" Naruto was exceptionally excited at the news that he'd have a teacher who could help him with his style.

"Hold on there a second my youthful acquaintance, it is true that I would be able to help you learn the style, but you still haven't given me reason to help you. Why should I assist you in this, despite my interest in the legendary taijutsu style of your clan, I still do not know if you have the will and perseverance to train under me."

Naruto was caught off guard by the sudden change to a serious attitude from the spandex clan shinobi and braced himself mentally as he prepared his response. "I know you don't really have any reason to help me, and I won't really be surprised if you say you won't, but I will learn my family's style one way or another, I need to if I'm going to be able to achieve my dreams, -ttebayo! So if you're not going to help me then fine, I'll master it on my own, and I will restore my clan without anyone's help!" Naruto hadn't meant to let himself get so passionate in his response but he couldn't help but remember all the times back at the academy when the teachers had kicked him out of class for asking questions, or when they would purposefully make him look worse in the eyes of the other students to humiliate him. If this person was going to be like they all had be, he wanted to know now so that he could do it on his own. It might be difficult, but he had sworn to restore his clan, and make the world remember them, so with or without this man's help he would achieve his goals.

Naruto was about to turn away from the man when he saw streams of tear running down the man's face, the man opened his voice to speak, when the person mentioned to be Rock Lee burst through the trees once again, "Gai-sensei, you must help him, I can tell that the fires of youth burn brightly within him, he is fighting to protect his precious people, and he is working to achieve his dreams, if you do not help him Gai-sensei I will do handstand push-ups until you change your mind!"

Naruto was unnerved by the sudden appearance and declaration on his behalf from the other young shinobi, and was truly touched that he had spoken on his behalf. He was shocked that Lee immediately got on his hands and began counting off. Naruto and Gai just stared at him for a few moments until Gai spoke up, "Get up Lee, if Naruto's declaration hadn't been enough to convince me, you supporting him just helped his cause even more. LEE, NARUTO I AM TRULY INSPIRED BY YOUR YOUTHFUL DISPLAYS, COME LET US MAKE OUR WAY DOWN THE PATHS OF YOUTH WHERE WE WILL STRIVE FOR OUR DREAMS AND WATCH OVER OUR PRESCIOUS PEOPLE!"

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing, for the majority of his life he had had people spitting on him, and doing everything they could to stop him from reaching his dreams, and he had found another pair who wanted to help him achieve his dreams. Soon the pair all had streams of tears running down their faces as they cheered for their oncoming successes.

Several minutes later Lee and Naruto were heading out of the training grounds for another warm-up run around the village. Gai had spent the last few minutes trying to convince Naruto to wear one of the green jumpsuits as well, but Naruto had held strong against Gai and Lee's protestations of how beneficial they were. Naruto figured that he had recently come to terms with getting rid of his orange jumpsuit, he wasn't about to jump in what he believed to be an even more ridiculous outfit. Sighing defeated Gai had suggested that Naruto and Lee do a few laps around the village to get to know each other while he studied Naruto's taijutsu scrolls. He told them they would spar afterwards so they could start to understand one another, but he thought it would be good for the two to speak for a while as well.

Naruto and Lee had been running for a few minutes when Naruto spoke up, "Lee, I am Uzumaki Naruto; I wanted to say thanks for standing up for me with your sensei… I'm not used to people doing that sort of thing for me so thanks."

"You do not have to worry about it Naruto, I could tell you too were a person who values hard work over natural ability, and I could tell that you would strive for your dreams one way or another, so If I can I would like to help you reach your goals. I too am a person who knows the importance of hard work, and as such I feel that we could be great friends!" Naruto was still having trouble getting used to the enthusiasm that Gai and Lee seemed to put into all their speech, but hearing Lee say that he thought they could be friends meant more to Naruto than he would admit. He had never really had any true friends, back at the academy he had a one-sided rivalry with Sasuke, and he had a crush of Sakura, not that he'd seen her lately. But he had never really had any particularly good friends.

"I think you're right Lee we can train our asses off together, and we will be the best shinobi the village has ever seen, they won't know what hit them!"

"YES NARUTO, WE WILL BE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH! COME NOW WE MUST NOT KEEP GAI-SENSEI WAITING!"

"YEAH, LET'S GO LEE!" Naruto wasn't sure when he started shouting, but he was fired up to train like never before, and the two blasted around the village at speeds that shocked anyone who was out to see what they were doing. The pair chatted about their time at the academy, and Naruto and Lee realized that they had a lot in common. Naruto was surprised to hear about Lee's condition which made it impossible for him to mold chakra for jutsu, and was really impressed that Lee hadn't allowed that to get in the way of his dream, and had just focused all his efforts on his taijutsu.

Lee also told him about his rival Hyūga Neji, who like Naruto's old rival Sasuke was viewed as a genius from a young age and how he wanted to prove that he didn't need to be a genius to be a great ninja, he just needed to dedicate himself to improving and becoming stronger. As they ran they also talked about a lot of the training they had done, and Lee was ecstatic to hear that Naruto also trained with weights. He suggested that Naruto show the weights to Gai when they make it back to the training ground so he can gauge how his weight training was progressing.

-Back in the Clearing with Gai-

Gai was sitting on one of the training posts going over the scrolls for the Fudōken style. He had only seen it used a handful of times, and as he went over the scrolls he was shocked by how complicated the forms were. _"Hmmm, if I'm going to help Naruto learn this, it's going to take a lot of hard work, and I just hope he's ready for it."_ Gai was trying to think of how best to start Naruto on his training when he heard a rustling in the trees and spotted his eternal rival poking his masked face out of the underbrush.

"AH, Kakashi, I see you decided to join us this morning, up for a most youthful spar?"

"Hm, you say something Gai?" Kakashi couldn't resist the temptation of messing with the other shinobi, it had just been something that happened between the two of them since they were both genin, and it never seemed to change. Kakashi started to smirk under his mask as he saw Gai's face start to convulse.

"AH, curse your hip and cool attitude Kakashi, you won't get the better of me!" Gai was brought out of his small rant by Kakashi's chuckles and turned back to face the masked man, "So Kakashi, I met Naruto, I am going to try and help him on his youthful journey, it won't be easy, but I believe he will be up for the task."

"I hope so, but you're the person who's most likely to be able to help him learn the style, I may have gotten on the wrong side of it a few times… let's just say I wasn't too happy of the idea of having to be a practice dummy for Naruto's training."

"I get it Kakashi, you want him in the best hands possible, there's nothing un-youthful about that, just talking to him helps rev up my own fires of youth. Don't you worry Kakashi, I'll make him a master of that style, and that's a promise." Gai struck a pose with a blindingly brilliant smile, and thumbs up. Kakashi sweat dropped at this, but ended up chuckling.

"Ok Gai, I'll hold you to that."

-With Naruto and Lee-

The pair had nearly made it back to the training ground when Lee asked Naruto about his clan. He had heard Naruto mention his clan's taijutsu style, and early he had heard Naruto talk about how he was going to bring back his clan. So for the remainder of their run Naruto told Lee of the Uzumaki clan. Naruto wasn't used to being so open with people so it was a bit odd for him to be talking about his clan with someone, but he was grateful that he had someone near his own age who he could talk to about his family.

Lee was very impressed by what Naruto told him about the Uzumaki clan, he offered his condolences when Naruto told him about how his clan had perished, and swore he would help Naruto with his training whenever he was able.

As the two made their way back into the clearing they saw Gai standing facing away from them, "Gai-sensei, is something wrong? You did say that when Naruto and I returned you would like the pair of us to spar." Gai turned around and saw the two slightly flushed genin and looked them both over. He knew Lee wouldn't be tired from the run he had just sent them on, but he was a little surprised to see that Naruto seemed to be in no worse shape than Lee.

"Right you are my pupil, my old rival just stopped by to wish us luck in our training, he said he was sorry he couldn't wait around, but he had an important mission he had to get too."

Naruto was pleased that Kakashi hadn't turned out to just have been tricking him, and was a bit sad that he hadn't been able to thank him, but he assumed he would see him around the village again and could thank him then.

"Oh, Gai-sensei, I just recalled it turns out that Naruto also uses weights in his training, I thought it would be good to inform you so you can gauge his progress with them!" Naruto sighed at the mention of his weights, he had finally gotten his movements back to normal on his run with Lee, and he was worried what Gai might have him do with the weights.

"AH, I knew that the fires of youth burned through you Naruto, tell me, what sort of weights do you use?"

"Umm, I use chakra weights; they aren't bulky like regular weights so I like them I guess."

"May I see these weights of yours Naruto?" Naruto detached the weights from his ankles and wrists and carefully passed them to Gai, he didn't want the weight of the slim metal bands to catch the man by surprise. However he was surprised when Gai just lifted the weights and started juggling them. "Well Naruto, these are most youthful, however, I am sure you can get more benefit with a little more weight."

Naruto could have sworn there was a slightly sadistic smirk in the man's voice if it wasn't for the smile that seemed to radiate his honesty. Naruto only shrugged and said, "I guess I could use some more weight."

Gai nodded approvingly and channelled some chakra into the weights before tossing them all back at Naruto. The blonde however hadn't been paying his full attention and had the air knocked out of him as he fell to the ground struggling under the new and seemingly exponentially increased weights. Naruto couldn't even ask if the Gai was crazy when it came to the weights, but sadly was dragged out of his musings by Gai telling him to put back on his weights and having his most youthful spar with Lee.

Naruto struggled to stand under the new weight and slowly stomped over towards the waiting Lee. "Naruto, do not worry, I will not go easy on you. If I am to help you reach your goals we cannot take our training lightly.

The blonde smirked at this, as much as he knew how much this spar was going to suck for him he knew it could only help him on his path to achieving his goals. "I wouldn't want anything else Lee, show me what you've got."

Naruto pumped chakra through his limbs and charged at Lee. If Lee was at all surprised by Naruto going on the offensive from the start he didn't show it. He only smiled and met Naruto in his charge. The two began exchanging blows one after another. Naruto may have improved his taijutsu over the past few months, but Lee had dedicated the past year of his life to his taijutsu, and it didn't take long for it to be apparent who had the upper hand in the spar.

Naruto seeing he had the underhand in the fight channelled more chakra to his limbs and redoubled his efforts, the additional power he gained from the burst of chakra surprised Lee as he found himself getting knocked backwards by an exceptionally powerful punch. "Yosh Naruto, that is the spirit, show me your fires of youth!" Lee redoubled his own efforts and flew back at Naruto. Lee had promised himself that he wouldn't use the Hidden Lotus technique, but that didn't mean he didn't have all the rest of his knowledge of Gōken at his disposal.

Naruto quickly discovered that even with the additional chakra Lee was still stronger than he was and was once again put on the defensive. He was doing his best to dodge Lee's punches and completely missed the kick directed straight at his head. He felt the impact and found himself sailing straight up in the air. He was preparing himself for the next hit when he heard Gai yell out at them.

"Alright you two, that's enough. I am proud of how brightly the fires of youth burn within the two of you. Now Lee help Naruto up, we have some much more serious training to get working on."

-Naruto's Apartment, a Week Later-

Naruto rolled himself out of his bed and hit the floor with a thud. Ever since he had started training with Gai and Lee a week ago he had found he didn't need his alarm clock as much. He thought back over the week with a mixture of contentedness and horror. He was pleased with how far he had come in that time, and he was terrified looking back at all the hell he had gone through that Gai called training. Still he couldn't argue with results.

He had only started working on his family's taijutsu style a few days earlier because he needed to have perfected water walking before he could begin learning the style. Apparently all his ancestors had to master their taijutsu style on water before they could learn it on land. Gai had explained in detail the reasons why, but it still didn't make it any happier when he was told he wasn't allowed to use his family's style until he had at least mastered the first few forms.

He had also met the other members of Lee's team in the past week. He liked Tenten well enough, she was nice, and unlike most of the girls he had met in the academy she actually seemed dedicated on improving herself as a Kunoichi, and didn't just spend her time fangirling after boys. He also liked her because she had shown him around her family's shinobi equipment store and helped him pick out his new outfit. She had also helped him improve his aim with Kunai and Shuriken, he had gotten better over the last three months, but she had given him a lot of pointers.

However Neji was another story. If he had to describe him in one word it would be 'prick' he was always rambling about fate, and how he was always destined to fail. He wanted to kick his ass, but Lee had held him back until he had calmed down.

But Naruto didn't want to think about Neji now, no Naruto had more important stuff on his plate today, he was heading to back to the academy for the first time in 3 months. He was looking forward to see how much he shocked everyone in how much he changed. And he was looking forward to see just what team he was going to be stuck on.

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BAM, done chapter 7, that one went by fast. I know it was a little shorter than the last one, but this was a kind of interlude chapter, leading up to team selections. I know you guys probably wanted to see what Naruto's team would be, but I still would like some more people's opinions on whether they'd like to see him on team 7 or on the solo team with the mystery sensei. There was some confusion with when I mentioned this in the last chapter, but just so you know, those are the only two options, he will either be on the canon team, or he will be on his own with an instructor that I have decided. I have a bunch of ideas for both possibilities.

I am going to have the next chapter up next weekend sometime, so let me know as soon as you can which team option you'd like to see, because if enough people don't let me know what they'd like to see, the whole chapter might just end up being about him walking to the academy. So not fun stuff.

But anyhow, I hope you enjoyed it, and I've got to say it feels good to be back to writing, so please leave a review and let me know what you think of the team options, and just let me know what you thought of the chapter. I appreciate all criticism, and I want to know what you guys think of my story.

Anyhow, Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	8. Chapter 8 - Team Selection

Hey Everyone, As I promised here is my next chapter. I wanted to thank all of you who left me reviews and who answered my questions, I made my decision around mid-week because I didn't want to wait any longer before I started up this chapter. Anyhow, I really enjoyed writing this chapter and as such I hope you guys enjoy it as well.

Anyways, as always, I hope you guys all enjoy it, it was fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. Now I'm going to shut up before I spoil anything in this chapter for you guys, but I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Luke Dragneel, who gave me a suggestion for one of the things that happens later in the chapter, but ya, just wanted to mention that.

So, now without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 8

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"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 8 – Team Selection**

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in his office facing his window. He had spent almost the entirety of the past week in his office in person, instead of using shadow clones. He was still able to use them for quite a bit of his paperwork but there had been so very many council meetings in the past week that one might think a nation had declared war against Konoha. Sarutobi sighed, the way he felt at the moment he wished it was something as simple as a war that was causing all the problems he was dealing with. Unfortunately it was not, the issues that the council had been requesting that he sort out were the demands made to him by one Uzumaki Naruto.

Hiruzen still couldn't believe the nerve some of the councillors still had when it came to Naruto. He had called a meeting with the entire village council the day after Kakashi had returned to the village with Naruto, he had waited that long in the hopes that Naruto might change his mind regarding the removal of the Uzumaki clan crest from their uniforms, he mentally berated himself for even wasting that much time waiting for one of the most stubborn individuals alive to change his mind in something that he rather justly demanded.

When he had gathered the council he began by questioning whom it had been who had gone through the trouble of removing the Uzumaki clan from the academy lessons. It turned out some of his councillors thought it best to get rid of anything related to the 'demon brat' that could 'make him feel entitled'. Sarutobi would have been impressed at how the councillors made their argument as if it had been to help Naruto with his development; needless to say however, he was not amused, and had suggested that they pray that was all that they had done dishonouring an ancient and noble clan.

However it quickly became clear to him that the majority of the purging and destruction of the Uzumaki archives had mainly been committed by a group of the civilian councillors apparently with some help from the Uchiha clan years ago. He was utterly appalled at how they all tried to justify what they had done. It didn't take long before the Hokage had heard enough, with a signal his ANBU appeared and quickly subdued the guilty councillors and they were sent off to Ibiki for further questioning…

This shocked the remainder of the council into silence; the Hokage was disgusted when his advisors tried to interfere with his judgement on the councillors. They had been his friends and teammates in his younger days, but sadly times had changed, and as much as the council had begun to realize that he wasn't just going to comply with everything they suggested it wasn't until he had Homura and Koharu thrown out of the meeting with Danzō quickly following after them did the civilian side of the council truly remember that their Hokage was not someone to be trifled with.

He had gone on to tell the council of the removal of the Uzumaki clan symbol from their uniforms, this caused a major uproar from both sides of the council. There were those arguing how the symbol was a part of Konoha now, and it would be demoralizing to their forces to have the symbol taken away, and there were those who said that it would cause the village to lose face in the eyes of the other shinobi villages. As much as the Hokage agreed with some of their claims he told them it didn't matter, seeing as the only reason that the symbol was worn in Konoha was because the Uzumaki clan allowed them to, as a show of their friendship, and now the Uzumaki heir had deemed the village unworthy of wearing their crest so arrogantly.

This caused further uproar, which was once again something the Hokage could understand, but he held firm, he passed on the reasons for why the Uzumaki heir had revoked their right to wear his clan's crest and after that the majority of the shinobi council was mollified, some even being ashamed for anything their clan had done to dishonour the memory of one of their old allies. Somehow quite a few of the civilians on the council had managed to remain completely oblivious to who this Uzumaki heir was, and when the Hokage told them that it was the boy they had treated as a monster they visibly paled.

After many hours of discussion the council, now slightly humbled civilian council begged the Hokage to ask Naruto for the permission to try and make amends with him. The Hokage and the other shinobi laughed at that, Shikaku Nara went as far as commenting on how 'troublesome' the whole situation was.

It had taken a grand total of one day after that meeting for the councillors whom he had had taken to Ibiki to confess to numerous crimes, implicating themselves and several others. The Hokage had no choice but to have them executed as traitors to the village. The same day he had needed to send several messages to the Fire Daimyo, informing him that the Uzumaki heir had decided to bring himself into the light. He knew that the Daimyo might not be happy about that, seeing as since the fall of Uzu the Daimyo had been in control of the wealth of Uzu, and would as of now have to relinquish it.

However, probably one of the biggest problems he had needed to deal with that week was when he addressed the massed shinobi forces of Konoha. They had all but demanded to know why they had to give up the symbol that they had all grown up associating with their home. Needless to say moral of the shinobi forces of Konoha hadn't been that low since the death of the Yondaime…

But that hellish week had passed, and life in the village was returning to a relative norm, the majority of the civilians had continued to treat Naruto as they had before, but there had really been no helping that, in fact there had been a significant increase in the attempts on the young Uzumaki's life this past week, however this was mostly just by said civilians or some high strung chūnin or genin. They had all been dealt with by the ANBU.

The Hokage looked back wondering where everything had gone so wrong and he found his thoughts drifting towards his wife. She had perished on the night of the Kyūbi's attack, and he had never really been the same since. In a second, he lost his companion, his successor, and he had been thrust back into a position that he had deemed he was getting too old to properly handle. He hadn't had any time to really cope with his losses, and as such it seemed as if things had just steadily declined.

Hiruzen let out another long and tired sigh as he looked over his village, he had wanted to try and make things right between him and Naruto, but he had only seen the boy once since he had been brought back by Kakashi. It had been when Naruto came by the office to drop off his shinobi identification photo, so he could officially be listed in the records. If it had been a few months earlier the Hokage wouldn't have been surprised if Naruto had put on some ridiculous face paint for the photo, but the boy had matured somewhat, however it had greatly saddened him when the boy appeared with a mask of seriousness covering any traces of his emotions.

He was worried when Konohamaru had interrupted the meeting attempting one of his usual 'assassination attempts'. After a brief confrontation with Naruto his grandson had managed to lose his teacher again in favour of following after Naruto. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened between the two of them, but his grandson hadn't made any of his usual attempts over the past few days so he was relieved at that.

Sarutobi turned away from the window with a frown on his face, _"Naruto, I will get you to forgive me someday, I'm sorry I lost your trust, but I will do everything I can to gain it back…"_

-At Yaoke Shokudō-

Naruto sat at his table, ever since the Hokage had first brought Naruto by this restaurant three months ago, Naruto had made it a habit of visiting once a week. It was a very rare occurrence for him to be welcomed into any place, so whenever he found a business that welcomed him as just another customer, he made a point of remembering about them.

"Good morning Uzumaki-san, I almost didn't recognize you, how're you today?" Naruto looked up and saw that it was the restaurant owner's son Kenji who was talking with him, Naruto was always allowed in the restaurant, but when he dealt with anyone other than Kenji or Rōjin, he would still get a little hostility from them.

"Oh, hey Kenji-san, this is my new outfit, and I told you to just call me Naruto, I'm really not one for all the formality and stuff if I don't need it…" Naruto had tried to get Kenji to just call him Naruto, but it still hadn't worked, if he ever ran into him outside the restaurant he'd be fine calling him Naruto, but whenever he was in the restaurant he was all business.

"I'm sorry Uzumaki-san, but that would just not be proper, I hope you're having a good day, if I remember correctly isn't today the day of your team announcements?"

"Yeah… today's the day."

"You don't sound excited about it, is something wrong?"

Naruto let out a sigh, he had been doing some research into how the teams were decided and he didn't like what he saw. "It's nothing really; I just have some ideas of who might be on my team and if I'm right… well let's just say, it's gonna be really annoying to deal with."

"I see, well I hope your day goes well either way Uzumaki-san, I assume you'll have your usual today?"

"Yeah, but can I get one of those big bowls of fruit to go with it as well?"

"Of course, I'll tell the chef's to be quick about it, after all we don't want you to be late to your team selections now do we?"

"I guess not, say hi to your dad for me will you Kenji?"

"I'll tell him you stopped by."

Naruto waited for his extra-large breakfast special to be prepared, he had checked his fridge earlier that morning and found he didn't have anything more than spoilt milk. He cursed himself for not having sent a clone out to buy food, but that's what he got for training so much with Gai and Lee. He still couldn't believe how much Gai saw fit to increase his weights by, but he had dealt with it for the two days it took him to be able to walk again, and he was back to training. Gai hadn't even given him the morning off, so Naruto got back from his morning workout starving, and finding the state of his fridge was just an added annoyance. So Naruto had gotten showered and dressed in his new outfit and headed out to one of his favourite restaurants in Konoha, he figured he would stop by Ichiraku's after team announcements for dinner but after his workout he had felt like his extra-large breakfast.

Naruto took his time eating his meal, as always when he was dealing with Kenji or his father, his service was excellent, and he took more time than usual to appreciate his food. That was another change that Naruto had made after he started cooking more than just instant ramen, he started taking his time eating, so that he could properly enjoy the different tastes of his food. He still ate ramen like a starving man, but even that was at a slower pace, if only mildly…

After Naruto finished up, he paid his bill and left a nice tip for Kenji, he was a bit sad that Rōjin hadn't been in that morning, he had wanted to ask the older man some stuff about the Hokage. It had been a week since Naruto had blown up at him and he still didn't known how to deal with it. He had only seen the old man once since then, and he had tried to remain stoic for that visit. Naruto was having a hard time meeting the old man's eyes without feeling betrayed. He really wanted things to go back to how they used to be between the two of them, but he couldn't just forgive the man for lying to him his whole life about his parents.

The young shinobi made his way towards the academy, he travelled via rooftops, seeing as he found it better than having to endure the hate filled stares of the villagers, and he had gotten tired of dealing with their hatred, so he figured it would be best for him to just remove himself from that situation. He was getting closer to the academy when he started thinking about the other students in his class, now that he thought about it, he realized he hadn't really made any friends in his entire time at the academy, sure he had gotten along with some of the guys, but aside getting in trouble with some of them he hadn't become their friends. He actually had a friend now in Lee, and maybe Tenten, so he took a more skeptical look on friendships, Lee helped him push himself, and Tenten, helped keep him grounded and slightly level headed, he had no relationships with anyone in the academy like that, Kiba and most of the other guys used to make fun of him, Shino didn't really say much, Chōji and Shikamaru really just hung out with each other, Ino was a fangirl, Hinata was kind of odd because she wouldn't really talk around him, and Sasuke was an ass.

But the one who confused him most was Sakura… he still couldn't exactly work out why he had always had such a huge crush on her. Now that he'd spent a few months away from her, and had made a few real friends, he didn't understand exactly why he had liked her, she was loud, and abusive, and she seemed to hate him. He figured he might be misremembering her a bit, but he was pretty sure she had made it blatantly obvious that she wasn't interested in him. _"Hmmm, maybe that's why I started liking her, because she is one of the biggest fangirls, and I figured that if I could convince her to date me instead of the teme, then I was better than him… well that was stupid…"_

Naruto decided he would reserve any absolute judgement on most of the people in his class till he saw them again, but he made a note of being wary of Sakura and Sasuke, the former because he still had some feelings for her though he wasn't quite sure what they were, or why, and the latter, because he was a stuck up prick. _"Actually now that I think about it, Sasuke and Neji would probably get along if their clans hadn't always hated each other."_

Naruto finally arrived at the academy and found he was a little early, which to anyone who knew him would have been absolutely shocked to see. Being the only one in the classroom Naruto decided his seat at random and allowed himself to drift off, till anything important happened.

Around half an hour later students began filing into the room, and took their seats, they all ignored Naruto, so he kept his head down and tried to slip back into his nap, sadly that dream was crushed when he heard the rush of the two biggest Sasuke fangirls racing into the room.

"HA, I win Ino-pig, which means I get to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

"What're you talking about billboard brow; everyone saw that I made it through the doorway first!"

Naruto grumbled at this, _"Yup, definitely a huge Sasuke fangirl, why did I have to get a crush on her?" _Naruto's interior monologue continued for a few minutes and as such he decided it best to drown out the ramblings of the two fangirls, apparently they ended up settling their argument and he was brought out of his inner rant by an obscenely loud pink haired girl.

"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING SITTING NEXT TO MY SASUKE-KUN?!" Naruto looked up at this and saw Sakura staring down at this, he was momentarily confused until he looked to his other side and saw that the brooding emo had placed himself there. He sighed and turned back towards the pink haired kunoichi.

"Jeez, Sakura-chan could you not yell, I've been here for almost an hour, it's not my fault that the teme sat there." His voice caught the attention of everyone in the room, they all recognized the voice of the village's notorious prankster, but were shocked when they saw him. Sakura recovered quickest after realizing who it was.

"Naruto-baka, get away from my Sasuke-ku-" Sakura had drawn her fist back intending to punch the young Uzumaki on the head, but was thwarted by the incredible reaction time of Naruto. In the split second between her trying to bring her fist down, she all of a sudden found her wrist caught in Naruto's grip and twisted painfully behind her back. The entire room was shocked at this, they looked at the figure and had a hard time believing that it was the same Naruto they had all made fun of.

Gone was the bright orange jumpsuit. It had been replaced by a set of dark blue shinobi pants that ended just below the knee, and a tight black sleeveless shirt that flowed up his neck, ending in a mask that covered the lower half of his face. The black shirt had the Uzumaki spiral on the back, and Naruto had taken the white spiral from his old jumpsuit and had it attached to the left leg of his pants, just above the set of three scrolls he had attached to both sides. It didn't take too long for everyone to come to realize one of the other reasons why they hadn't noticed the blonde, it was the blonde part, when they looked at him, they saw that while the majority of his hair was still the blonde, all the tips of his spiky hair were died a blood red, and there was also the fact that he had been letting his hair grow out over the past three months and the spikes now hung over his now black, hitai-ate. The other surprising fact was that this new Naruto was notably taller than Sakura, Naruto had always been the class shrimp, he had apparently hit a growth spurt, because he had grown almost 10 cm putting him only slightly under Shino's height.

Everyone was shocked at both Naruto's appearance and reaction. Most people were trying to deny that this new Naruto was really the idiot they had all spent their academy years making fun of, only a few had different thoughts. "Sakura-chan, what the heck is wrong with you, I tell you something and your response is to hit me, what the hell is your problem?"

Sakura was trying to come up with a clever response when she felt Naruto release her and saw him suddenly crouching on the desk in front of her precious Sasuke. "You know what I don't get teme?"

"Hn, like I care dobe."

"I really don't get why everyone calls you a genius, I mean you've done pretty well at the academy, but then again, wasn't your brother a chūnin by this time in his life, and didn't he activate his Sharingan by the time he was seven? He may have been a traitor, but he was a genius, compared to him, you're just average, so I don't get why everyone thinks you're such hot stuff." After that comment a there was a dead silence that seemed to settle across the room, Sasuke's eyes flashed through half a dozen emotions, and he was about to open his mouth to speak when he saw Naruto falling towards him.

During the silent moment the student sitting in front of where Naruto was crouched over had accidentally nudged Naruto setting him off balance. Naruto felt himself falling forward towards Sasuke, Naruto felt frozen in time as he fell towards Sasuke, and he felt his life flash before his eyes, he knew what was about to happen, and he decided that he had to get out of the situation, so running through handsigns faster than ever before, Naruto found himself sitting across the classroom looking up at Sasuke's desk at the poor unfortunate Inuzuka Kiba, who found his face mashed together with that of the unsuspecting Sasuke.

Now the room had felt cold before, but it felt as though the temperature dropped twenty degrees when the Sasuke fangirls saw what was happening, their Sasuke-kun had had his first kiss stolen by one Inuzuka Kiba, Naruto whispered a prayer for forgiveness to Kami for what he had just done to his classmate, and watched as Kiba managed to shove himself off of Sasuke, "What the Hell?! Augh, GROSS!" Kiba began spitting all around him, and started clawing at his face, sputtering. Sadly this was also when one of Sasuke's fangirls spoke up, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SASUKE-KUN?!"

The girl's shout was quickly taken up by the majority of the girls in the room as they all converged on the whimpering Kiba. The room was soon filled with the pleas for mercy from Kiba to the horde of fangirls. Naruto actually felt a little guilty thinking about what he had put the other guy through, but he had been on the end of crazed fangirl beatings before, and he wasn't about to volunteer to take Kiba's place. Naruto looked around him, and noticed he was sitting next to a beet red Hinata, and grinned under his mask at her, "Hey Hinata, how're you?"

Hinata wasn't sure what to say about everything she had just seen, she was glad Naruto wasn't in Kiba's situation, but she still felt a little sorry for Kiba, not that she had wanted Naruto to lose his first kiss to Sasuke, no she had an idea for who was going to get that, unfortunately that thought caused her to blush even more, and her stutter to increase. "I-i-i-I'm f-fine N-n-n-Naru-Naruto, h-how are y-you?"

Naruto still feeling like he dodged a thousand kunai paid no mind to Hinata's continuously reddening complexion and just grinned further beneath the mask, "I'm great, feel like I just dodged a hundred angry kunai." Naruto sat back in his chair when he saw Iruka walk in.

Iruka was shocked when he walked into his class, most of the male students were laughing about something, most of the female students were in a huge pile, all trying to attack whatever was underneath them, and the only few students not doing anything were the stoic Shino, the lazy Shikamaru, the constantly eating Chōji, the brooding Sasuke, the shy Hinata who looked like she was about to explode, and most surprisingly of all Naruto. Iruka actually did a double take when he saw Naruto and took in his new appearance. He couldn't help but smile seeing Naruto's new look, _"I gotta say, he looks more like a proper shinobi now, though it's going to be hard to not think of him as the class clown."_ Iruka shook his head and turned his attention back to the pile of kunoichi, "GET IN YOUR SEATS NOW!" Iruka had used his 'big-head jutsu' to help get his point across and watched as the fight broke apart to reveal a sorely beaten Kiba lying on the ground. Kiba slowly got to his feet nursing both his bruised body and ego, as he dropped himself back into a seat, he still didn't know how to react to what had happened, but he made a mental note to kick Naruto's ass someday for it.

After everyone had gotten into their seats Iruka stood before the class and spoke again, "Ok now, I know it's been a little while since we've all been together, and I wanted to just say congratulations again all of you for making genin. All of you have worked really hard to get where you are today and I'm proud of all of you. Today you will all be meeting your Jōnin sensei's and start your lives as shinobi, I will always treasure the time I had to teach you, and I know you will all do your village proud. So let's not waste any more time here, and I'll tell you a bit about how your teams operate."

At this point Naruto zoned out of Iruka's speech, he was observing his classmates now, and was hoping he had been wrong when he was guessing who would be on his team. Naruto had noticed the reactions from a few of his classmates when he had stopped Sakura's attack, and he could have sworn he heard Shikamaru mutter 'troublesome' when he switched places with Kiba, he also noticed that even Shino raised an eyebrow at Naruto when their eyes had met. He decided he would talk to Shino sometime soon, and see if they could become friends, he had noticed Shino was also a bit of an outcast, he guessed that it was because of the Aburame's affinity for insects, but he figured that once he got past the stoic front he could be friends with Shino. He was also curious about Hinata now, she had never seemed like a fangirl, but she had always seemed weird around him, he used to think she was just weird like that, but he also remembered that she had never been mean to him, so he figured he could try to be her friend as well. _"Yup, that wouldn't be too bad of a team, the three of us could probably work well together once we got to know each other, and maybe I could help get Hinata and Shino out of their shells."_

Sadly this was when he had heard his name called, "Huh, sorry Iruka-sensei, I didn't hear you?" Some of the class chuckled at this seeing that Naruto wasn't completely different from how he used to be, Iruka just sighed at this.

"I was announcing team 7 Naruto, the genin making up that team will be Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and you Uzumaki Naruto. You're Jōnin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi." At this Naruto was torn between smashing his head on his table and cheering that he'd have a sensei that liked him. Sadly he also knew about Kakashi's horrible tendency of being at least an hour and a half late for everything. He decided on just sighing and shaking his head, his team was exactly how he guessed it would be. After all he was the worst ranked student in the academy, and Sasuke and Sakura were the two top ranking ones, Lee had told him that that was how his team had been decided. Across the room Sakura cheered at her great fortune of being on her Sasuke-kun's team, and Sasuke just sat there still brooding over what Naruto had said to him.

Naruto sat back in his chair as the remainder of the teams were announced, he wished Hinata good luck with her team when her sensei arrived, and soon found himself sitting in the room with only Sakura, Sasuke and Iruka-sensei. That was when Iruka spoke up saying he had to prepare for his new class, and that they should just wait where they were for Kakashi to arrive. The minute he left Naruto was out of his seat. "Ok, well I'll see you guys in like an hour, just so you know, Kakashi is late for everything, so yeah, I'll be back in a bit." Before Sakura could even say anything, Naruto jumped out of the classrooms window, and disappeared from sight. Sasuke just mumbled something incoherent at that, while Sakura went on a rant about irresponsible people. In fact it took Sakura nearly half of the hour Naruto was gone to realize that she could take advantage of her alone time with Sasuke. Sadly all of her advances were shot down one by one and before too long the young Uzumaki reappeared through the window.

"Hey guys, I told you he would take a while. Well might as well make it interesting for him, hehehe…" Naruto jumped from the ledge to the door and began setting up his trap. It was about half an hour after that that a masked silver haired shinobi stuck his head through the doorframe. He almost suspected the Naruto would have set up some silly prank to catch him off guard, but was pleased to see that wasn't the case.

Or at least that was until he set a foot through the doorway and found a rope tied around his ankle hauling him upside down dangling him from the ceiling. He looked over his students, and saw Naruto was trying not to burst out laughing under his new mask. Kakashi had actually been flattered when Naruto had approached him asking if he would mind Naruto copying a part of his look. He figured he'd get back at Naruto for the prank later, so he just turned towards his other students who also seemed to be trying to maintain straight faces. "My first impression of you all… is that I hate you. Meet me up on the roof." Kakashi shunshined out of the trap and took a seat on the roof of the academy. He didn't have to wait very long for his students to appear.

He gestured for them to take a seat before him before he spoke. "Well let's begin by introducing ourselves."

"What do you want to know?" Naruto figured he should find out exactly what Kakashi wanted to hear.

"Hmm, well your names, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, and I guess your dreams for the future."

Sakura decided that the explanation wasn't clear enough however, "Um sensei, could you give us an example?"

"Ohh me, hmm, well my name is Hatake Kakashi… I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes… hmm dreams for the future…oh and I have lots of hobbies." Even Naruto couldn't help but sweat drop at this. He was kind of used to Kakashi's obscenely aloof attitude, but he felt like this was taking it a bit far. "Ok, well then let's get started with you pinky."

Sakura took a moment to compose herself before a quick glance at Sasuke, "Ok, well my name is Haruno Sakura and the person I like (glance at Sasuke) I mean the things I like… umm well the thing I dislike is Naruto. And umm dreams for the future (another look at Sasuke) umm, and that was all right?" Sakura at least had the grace to finish sheepishly as Kakashi sighed, _"Girls her age always seem to be more interested in love than their training, and I'll need to talk to her about that if they pass my test."_

"Ok, next is you grumpy."

If Sasuke was upset by this name he didn't show it, he just continued with his brooding before looking up and talking, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, there are lots of things I dislike, and I don't really like anything and… I can't really call it a dream… but I have a goal. The resurrection of my clan… and to kill a certain man…"

Kakashi's had assumed that Sasuke would say pretty much that, Sakura was just staring all starry eyed at Sasuke, and Naruto just shrugged, he figured that Sasuke was talking about Itachi, but decided against saying anything.

"Ok, you're next Naruto…"

"Ok, well I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like training and eating, my favourite food is ramen, but anyone who knows anything about me knows that… I dislike people who go back on their words, or break their promises, as well as people who judge others for things they have no control over. My hobbies are training to achieve my goals and learning more about my family. I also have dreams of restoring my clan, and one day surpassing all the past Hokage's and bringing the village to a new age of prosperity, where people can live freely without being judged for being themselves." Naruto had had the longest introduction and it had raised some questions, Sasuke had raised an eyebrow when Naruto mentioned his clan, Kakashi was pleased that Naruto had matured beyond just obsessing about ramen, and was looking forward to helping him become the shinobi his parents would have wanted him to be.

But it was Sakura who spoke out, "What clan are you talking about Naruto, I thought you were an orphan, I haven't ever heard of the Uzumaki clan?" Naruto stiffened at her so casually talking about how he had no family, but Kakashi quickly spoke up to keep him from reacting too badly.

"Well Sakura, that's one of the big issues in the village right now, the Uzumaki clan actually helped the Senju and Uchiha clan build the village because they were distantly related to the Senju's and they were the royal clan of a village that was once allied with ours. We actually used to wear their clan's crest on our uniforms until recently. It is the spiral that Naruto has on his back." Sakura had no response for what she just heard, but decided that she would look into it later, Sasuke had a similar reaction and decided to look into the Uzumaki clan and see if they had anything remotely useful he could use for his revenge. He doubted it if they were related to the class dobe, but he figured he might as well check.

"Ok, well now that we've got introductions out of the way, I have to tell you the first thing we're going to do tomorrow starting your duties as shinobi."

Naruto decided to ask the obvious question, "What're we going to be doing Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well we're going to be doing survival training, and before you interrupt I have to tell you, this training will be more difficult than anything you did at the academy."

"Hn, and what's so difficult about this training?"

"Well Sasuke, in this training, I'll be your opponent, and I've got to tell you, hehehe, it's very difficult, hehehehe, in fact out of the 27 graduates, only 9 of you will be selected to become official genin. That's right, this training has a 66% chance of failure, and those who don't pass get sent back to the academy."

"But sensei, then what was the point of all our training at the academy, what was the point of the exams?"

"The point of the exams Sakura was to determine which of you might possess the skills to become shinobi, but the test tomorrow will be the final deciding factor… Meet me at training ground 7 tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. Oh, and don't eat breakfast, you might throw up hehe."

With that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. The three young shinobi looked between each other briefly before Naruto turned and jumped from the roof of the academy heading in the direction of Ichiraku. He had a lot of work to do tonight if he was going to be ready for whatever Kakashi had in store for them in the morning; he just hoped that his clones would be able to properly scout out the area before the test began.

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BAM, done another chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it, as I mentioned I enjoyed writing it a lot, so I look forward to hearing what you all think about it. I know some of you might have been getting a bit tired of the slow buildup, but we're finally here, we have the teams, and missions will start soon. I'm not planning on dedicating a whole lot to their missions before wave, but we still have to deal with Kakashi's test and a few other small things that I have been hinting at.

Also sorry to those of you who wanted to see Naruto on his own. In the end the votes were pretty much even, so I went with what I felt I could do a better job writing. I hope you guys aren't too upset about it, and I want you to know that even with Naruto having Kakashi as a sensei, he will still be getting outside instruction. Anyhow, that's another spoiler that I don't want to get into, so I'll just say I hope you all enjoyed it, even if it wasn't exactly what you were hoping for. Also if anyone is curious, Kenji and his father were two characters from back in chapter 2, just thought I should mention it in case some people forgot.

So as I always say, please leave a review if you enjoyed it, or if you didn't enjoy it, and have some suggestions for what I can do better. I really do appreciate all the reviews, and I like to hear everyone's suggestions. If it means I can write a better story, I will take all the advice I can get.

Anyhow, Ja Ne,  
**~FeJazz**


	9. Chapter 9 - Trials and Tribulations

Hey Everyone, sorry it's a couple days late but I was having trouble getting this chapter the way I wanted it. But it's done now, so here you all go.

I also just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who's been leaving me reviews, I really appreciate it, and I love reading what you guys think of my work. I really value all the criticism and suggestions you guys give me, so I hope you'll keep it up.

Also as a brief disclaimer, I seem to forget to mention it every other chapter or something, but as I keep reminding myself I don't own Naruto... at least not yet...

So, now without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 9.

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"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 9 – Trials and Tribulations**

Naruto lay in his bed as he saw the first signs of sunlight creeping through his window. It was a little after 6 in the morning, and he decided that he might as well eat his breakfast now. He made his way to the kitchen and greeted one of the clones he had created the night before and soon received a rush of memories as it dispelled. He stretched before sitting down to eat his breakfast and smirked remembering what had happened the previous day.

After his team's meeting with Kakashi he had stopped by Ichiraku's for a feast of ramen. He told Teuchi and Ayame about his team and sensei, and after going through ten bowls he took his leave. He had promised Lee earlier that they could meet up for some training and had decided to head to the training ground a bit early for a warm up. Naruto had also spoken with Gai to learn anything else he could about Kakashi. Ever since Kakashi had brought him back to the village Naruto had been seeing him around everywhere and he made it his mission to find out what he could about the man who had helped him learn about his family.

In his research Naruto had learnt that Kakashi had been one of the Yondaime's students, as well as learned that both members of his team had died before the Kyūbi attack. When Naruto spoke with Gai about this he told Naruto about one of Kakashi's teammates who changed the cyclops' view when it came to teamwork. According to Gai, that was apparently one of the most important things to Kakashi, no matter who they are, or how you feel about them, you always protect your comrades.

After his team had been announced he was a bit upset with how he had snapped at Sasuke, he knew that Sasuke really hadn't been responsible for the destruction of his family's histories, but when he heard that the Uchiha clan was involved with it, he had been pissed. Naruto had made it one of his priorities to know as much about what was happening within the village as he could, so ever since he had been brought back, he had had several clones disguised as papers, or books around the Hokage's office, and in the council meeting rooms. He knew he could get in trouble for it, but he figured it was better that he know what was going on within the village that remain clueless and end up a pawn in someone else's plans.

Naruto had finished eating, and decided to take a quick shower before he went out to meet Kakashi for the test. If he knew Kakashi at all he wouldn't be there for at least another hour, so he took his time getting ready.

As Naruto finally left his apartment he began making his way towards training ground 7, he couldn't help but think about the Hokage. He had never felt more betrayed than he had when he discovered the old man had kept so much from him, but as he watched the Hokage in the meetings he couldn't help but feel a bit upset with how he was holding the man responsible. He had only actually spoken to him once since he returned, and that was only when he met Konohamaru. He was still upset, but he decided that it was about time that he at least spoke to him, and heard his reasons for keeping his family a secret from him.

He was near the training grounds and he saw his teammates and his clone all lounging around in the clearing, he made his approach. His two teammates both appeared to be grumbling about something or other and his clone seemed to be doing fine, he noticed it was getting some glares from the teme, but he didn't really care about that.

Seeing that Kakashi had yet to arrive, Naruto decided to let his clone remain with his teammates and decided to stretch and summon a few clones to go off and work on his chakra control.

Over an hour later Naruto was getting frustrated, Kakashi had still not shown up, and it was getting on his nerves, he was curious as to why Kakashi would be so late, when it dawned on him that it was probably meant to get them frustrated. Naruto looked out from his hiding spot in the trees and saw that his two teammates weren't doing that well, and even his clone was showing signs of fatigue. He figured that the clone was just getting bored; after all it had been there a couple hours apparently getting glares from Sasuke and trying to ignore Sakura who seemed to be constantly complaining about something.

Naruto was really grateful he had ignored Kakashi's 'suggestion to not eat breakfast' _"I'd rather throw up my breakfast than go hungry all morning… ohhhh" _Naruto looked back at his teammates, and caught sight of Sasuke holding his stomach. He had noticed Sakura do the same thing a little while ago and figured that neither of them had eaten anything. He was getting worried about whatever their new sensei had planned for their test, but he was curios why he wanted them all in bad condition before it started. He figured it was probably just to make it harder on them, but he let his mind drift back to trying to figure out some way to work with his team.

The young Uzumaki lay back down on his perch and looked up into the branches, _"I don't know what the old man was thinking putting us together as a team, I mean I know I had the worst marks in the academy… ugh maybe I should have approached him about that whole in field promotion thing I read about… too late now. This is going to suck though, I mean Sasuke has always treated everyone like they're dirt compared to him, and Sakura has done nothing but treat me bad ever since I first met her at the academy… whatever this test is, it is going to suck for us…"_

-Wish Kakashi-

The silver haired shinobi was currently standing before a memorial stone in the village, _"I wonder if I've let them sit long enough… nah, I can probably leave them for a couple more hours, what to do…"_ letting out a quiet yet perverted giggle Kakashi pulled an orange book out of his pocket and left his spot, walking the opposite direction of where his new genin team was waiting.

-Back with Team 7-

Naruto was a bit upset by now. It had been another 3 hours and Kakashi had still not shown up. He was usually not too bothered by the masked shinobi's tendency to be terribly late, but this was just getting ridiculous. _"Come on, what the hell Kakashi-sensei I showed up an hour late for this, and you're still not here, why are you doing this to us?" _Naruto was still hiding in the trees and was wondering what exactly his clone was going through with his teammates. They had spoken a few times apparently, and for some reason or another Sakura had tried to hit him once or twice. He figured it must have had something to do with Sasuke because he'd just started to look more and more upset.

The blonde let out a sigh and headed back through the trees to see what his other clones were up too, apparently they had stumbled upon a whole bunch of traps while they were practicing chakra control and so he sent out even more to learn the terrain. Whatever Kakashi was planning he was going to make his sensei regret that he had been so late.

He eventually decided to lie back down in the branches and just wait for his clone with the team to pop, he had told it to act as him, so he figured he'd be fine with it waiting there until he was needed.

-With Kakashi-

It was almost 11 when Kakashi finally entered the clearing in training ground 7. He couldn't help but chuckle as he saw his new team all sitting around grumbling and clutching their stomachs, _"Well this is going to be fun."_

"You're late!" Sakura had spotted her new sensei and couldn't help but scream at him.

"Hmm, ohh sorry about that guys, a black cat crossed my path while I was on the way here so I had to take the long way around…"

"Liar!"

Sasuke had sweat dropped at his new teacher's excuse, he was a little surprised that his dobe of a teammate hadn't joined the pinkette fangirl in her screaming, but he was slightly relieved. He watched as his sensei walked up to one of the posts and put a timer down. "Alright guys, this timer is set to go off at noon, I have two bells on me, and your task is to get one of the bells before the timer goes off. Anyone who doesn't get a bell by that time will not get lunch. Not only that but I'll tie you to the post and eat the food in front of you."

The thought going through all the genin's mind was the same, but it was once again Sakura who spoke up, "But sensei, there are only two bells…"

"Well yes, so no matter what one of you will end up tied to the post, and one more thing anyone who doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy, so at least one of you will be going back, hehehehe, anyways, if you want to succeed you will have to come at me with the intent to kill, you're allowed to use any weapons or jutsu you have but know that if you don't, then you have no hope of passing this test."

Kakashi had noticed Naruto get a dark look on his face when he mentioned killing intent so he knew that the blonde still had yet to fully come to terms with what had happened. He just hoped that he wouldn't let what happened interfere with the test, after all even Kakashi was interested in the possibilities his current team had, it even reminded him a bit of his old team.

Seeing all three of his genin nod he looked them over, he had expected Naruto to charge at him or something foolish like that, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen so he just nodded back at the three. "Alright then, the test starts now."

As soon as Kakashi spoke Sakura and Sasuke both jumped back into the trees, _"Good, they're going for cover so they can come up with a plan or someth-"_ The silver haired shinobi nearly sweat dropped when he noticed that the younger mask wearing shinobi was still standing in the open right in front of him, _"Naruto, I know you're smart enough to know that you don't really have a chance of fighting me head on…"_

"Alright Kakashi-sensei I guess I can finally see what you're made of." Kakashi just sighed as he reached back into his pocket and pulled out his book, he still hadn't finished it, so he figured he might as well read when he could. Seeing the book Naruto spoke up, "Well if you want to make it easier for me, go ahead."

"Hm, oh no it won't really make a difference what I do; you won't be able to beat me even if I'm only using one hand." Now Naruto had learned to hold his temper a bit, but the clone realized that it would be a good chance for it to get some info on how Kakashi fought so he just grinned and charged in. Kakashi managed to retain from sighing as Naruto rushed towards him, he knew from talking with Gai that Naruto wasn't able to use his fūdoken yet, so he wasn't really worried about Naruto's attacks.

Naruto drew back a fist and aimed it at Kakashi's torso, sadly though right as he was about to make impact Kakashi shifted his stance and swung around his arm aiming a strike for the back of his neck. Seeing this Naruto jumped into a backflip aiming to land a kick on his sensei as he fell, sadly once again Kakashi caught the foot threw Naruto away from him. Naruto landed in a roll and stood back up facing down his sensei and saw that he was giving his a smile from behind his mask.

Gritting his teeth Naruto charged back in and when he was getting near arms reach of the cyclops he dropped into a slide lashing out a kick hoping to catch his sensei's ankle. Kakashi simply jumped away from Naruto's swipe and smiled inwardly, _"Well I'm not surprised that he's decent with taijutsu, after all he did tell me about his fight." _Kakashi decided it was time to take some initiative in the fight, "Well now that you're warmed up how about I give you your first shinobi combat lesson, taijutsu; hand to hand combat, I'll show you how a proper shinobi fights."

Naruto could swear that Kakashi was grinning under his mask as he began walking towards him. He still had his book raised and didn't look up, but Naruto immediately dropped into a defensive stance. Then he was doing all he could do dodge and deflect the kicks being directed at him, he opted to avoid hits so he wouldn't dispel, even dodging the hits though his sensei thoroughly trounced him with only one foot, all while not even looking up from his book. Eventually Naruto found himself turned around and immediately felt a sense of dread.

"A shinobi should never let his enemy get behind him."

From the bushes Sasuke and Sakura both saw Kakashi form a hand seal, "Naruto look out!" Sakura's warning fell on deaf ears as Kakashi also cried out.

"Konohagakure Hijutsu: Sennen Goroshi!"

What happened next shocked everyone present as Kakashi proceeded to poke Naruto in the ass, however what shocked everyone even more was how as soon as the so called attack made contact, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. _"What, when did Naruto make a shadow clone?"_

While that may have been Kakashi's thought the other members of team 7 were debating face vaulting at the 'technique' Kakashi used and the sudden disappearance of their other teammate.

-Elsewhere in the training ground-

Naruto nearly fell out of his perch when he received the memory from his clone, _"What the hell was that Kakashi-sensei, ugh thank kami it was only a clone, I don't know if I ever would have been able to live that down."_ Naruto looked at his surroundings before dispelling the remainder of the clones he had searching throughout the training area. After another influx on knowledge Naruto could only shake his head at some of the traps that had been placed throughout the training area. He actually had to admit the rope trap hidden underneath the rope trap was good, but thankfully once again his clone had triggered them both so he was safe.

He was glad that the clones had had enough time to reset all the traps that they accidentally triggered and he even put out a few new traps of his own. He doubted any of them would actually work on his new sensei but he figured it was worth a try.

Naruto began making his way back towards where his clone had fought Kakashi when he suddenly heard a scream that sounded like Sakura. He may not have been quite as infatuated with the pink haired kunoichi as he had been, but she was still on his team, and as such he had to help her. He immediately picked up his pace and summoned a pair of clones to watch his back. After a few minutes more of searching he found her passed out on the ground, he gave her a quick once over and she didn't seem to actually have been hurt, so he guessed that Kakashi had used a genjutsu of some sort on her, after all she had screamed out the teme's name.

"_Oh crap, where the heck is the teme?"_ Naruto ordered one of his clones to pick Sakura up and carry her out of the woods while he and the other clone ran off in search of his other teammate. It didn't take long for him to realize that he wasn't having any luck finding them, so he summoned another dozen or so clones and sent them off in pairs to find them. After a few more minutes of searching Naruto felt a familiar rush of knowledge, and saw that one of the pairs of clones had stumbled upon Sasuke and Kakashi fighting, one of the clones had dispelled immediately to let the others know where they were, while the other joined the fight to try and help take down the cyclops.

Naruto cursed a few minutes later when he learned what it felt like to be burned alive with fire based jutsu. He was more than a little upset that Sasuke had used his clone as bait in the fight to try and trap Kakashi, and it only took a few more moments for him to reach the battle ground. What he hadn't suspected was to see Sasuke buried up to his neck in the ground. "HAHAHA serves you right teme, killing me like that."

"Shut up dobe; get me out of here so I can take him out."

"What way did he go teme?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Cause if you don't I'll just leave you in the ground."

"Hn…" By this point Naruto was fed up with his Uchiha teammate and so he started making his way off when he heard Sasuke's voice again, "Damnit, wait dobe, get me out of here, and I'll show you which way he went." Naruto hearing this sighed as he signalled for two of his clones to dig Sasuke out.

"Ok, but when we go after him again we need to work together, otherwise we're just going to get our asses kicked again."

"Hn, speak for yourself dobe."

Naruto was about to give back another retort when he felt the clone that had been carrying Sakura pop, apparently when she woke up with Naruto carrying her she had felt that the appropriate thing to do would be to punch the clone out of existence. _"Well you're welcome for getting you out of the forest pinky."_ Naruto could only sigh as he went over the clone's memories. He heard more grumbling and when he turned back to his clones and teammate. Apparently the clones had gotten one of his arms out, and while pulling him, Sasuke got upset over something and lashed out at one of the clones dispelling it. This caused all of Naruto's other clones to refuse to dig the black haired youth out.

"Damnit Sasuke, stop fighting with my clones, and you guys, get him out of the ground already."

Naruto tuned out Sasuke's mutterings and the two began to make their way in the direction that Sasuke said Kakashi had gone. Naruto ordered two of his clones to go and find Sakura and bring her to them, and he sent the other few ahead of them to keep an eye out for Kakashi.

Unfortunately for them that is when a ringing sound was heard from the direction of the clearing. Sighing, Naruto dispelled his clones and he and Sasuke made their way towards the clearing in silence. When they arrived they found Kakashi leaning against one of the posts while Sakura was tied to the central post. Naruto was torn between laughing and hitting his head against the post, he had been hoping that he would end up tied to the post so that the other two could eat, he might have been a bit hungry, but he could see that his teammates had it far worse than him.

It was now that their sensei spoke to them, "Well I've got to say I'm disappointed, I had expected more from you guys. I mean I have the top two students from the academy and the only one who surprised me in the least was the classes dead last… (Sigh) well because no one managed to get a bell I'm going to give you all one last chance after lunch. Seeing as Sakura didn't even try and fight back at all she doesn't get lunch. That's the price she has to pay for being completely incompetent, all you did was follow around Sasuke, and then you fell prey to a simple genjutsu… well anyhow you guys eat your lunches, just remember those who break the rules are trash."

With that Kakashi shunshined away from the group and Sasuke sat down with his bento. After a few moment's Sakura broke the silence "I'm sorry guys, I was so useless…" Naruto let out a sigh before he held out his food toward his teammate.

"Here, you can have mine, I'm not that hungry, and I can hear your stomach."

"Huh, but Kakashi-sensei said-"

"I know what he said Sakura, but I can't see him around here, and if you don't eat you're not going to be able to do anything." Sakura deflated at this. "And besides if we're going to have any hope of getting those bells from Kakashi-sensei we're all going to need to work together, and we can't do that if we're at half strength."

"But what about you then, I mean don't you need to eat?"

"I'm fine, I figured there was something off about him telling us not to eat, I mean weren't we told a whole bunch of times back in the academy how important it was to get enough food. Anyways I kind of took Kakashi-sensei's warning as advice instead of a rule, so I'm fine but you and Sasuke need to eat."

"Ok… wait, I can't eat it though, I mean I can't use my hands."

Naruto nearly face vaulted at this and just picked up a piece of the food with the chopsticks and held it towards Sakura, "No way Naruto, I don't want you to feed me, I'd rather be hungry." At this Naruto did face vault, how had he gone from convincing her that he was right to this.

With a sigh of exasperation he looked back up, "Fine, Sasuke you feed her then." At this Sakura immediately perked up. Only to be shot down by Sasuke's response.

"Why can't you dobe?"

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh before responding, "Oh my freaking kami, would you just do it teme, she already said she won't let me feed her, so that only leaves you, besides you know that we all need to be at full strength to have any hope of beating Kakashi-sensei so just do it already will you."

After a brief pause Sasuke sighed, "Fine, but this is only for now, and only because we all are going to need to work together if any of us have a chance of winning this."

With that Sasuke took picked up some food and was about to give it to an immensely pleased looking Sakura when a plume of smoke exploded in front of them. As soon as it cleared all three genin's expressions changed to varying degrees of worry. Kakashi was standing there glaring at them.

"YOU ALL… pass." Sasuke and Naruto both fell to their sides at this, taking a moment to straighten themselves out.

"But sensei, why are we passing, I mean earlier you said whoever gets tied up can't eat, and then right before you left you said that those who break the rules are trash, so weren't we breaking the rules just then?" Naruto and Sasuke stared at Sakura with looks of shock on her face, was she saying that they should all fail. Thankfully Kakashi didn't take too long to reply.

"While it's true that those who break the rules are trash, it is also true that those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. That's why you passed the test, because you all realized that if you were going to have any chance of passing the test you'd need to work together. Meaning you'd all need to be at full strength, and while I hadn't expected that Naruto would have ignored my warnings about eating, I can tell it helped him reach the conclusion earlier that you'd all need to work together."

"Hn, well then sensei, why were there only two bells if the point of the test was for us to work together, all that accomplished was to get us to try and get it for ourselves?"

"Well Sasuke, that was one of the traps, it made it more difficult for you to realize the true point of the test. The main point behind the test was to determine if you could all work together as a team, and with only two bells it makes it more difficult for you all to work together if you think that no matter what one of you was going to fail. That's where every other team fails, they all end up leaving one of their teammates to starve, and keep trying to get the bells themselves."

"Hn."

"So you're saying that if we didn't decide to work together that we would have failed then sensei?"

"Exactly Naruto, but that isn't the case, and because you passed you are now officially genin of Konoha, so you all have the rest of the day off, just meet me here tomorrow morning at 9 at we'll get our first mission." With that Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Naruto quickly turned to look at his teammates and saw Sasuke get up to leave, _"This is going to take a lot of work."_ Naruto watched as Sasuke headed away from the area leaving a still struggling Sakura tied to the post.

Naruto quickly took one of his scrolls out of its holsters and channelled some chakra into it bringing out a kunai. He quickly sliced through the rope that was holding Sakura in place before he sealed it back in the scroll. _"That really isn't the best way to do that, I need something else that to carry my weapons in, I mean I can't pull out a scroll every time I need a kunai, I'll figure something out."_

Naruto turned and looked towards Sakura who was now rubbing her wrists where they had been bound, "Ok, well see you tomorrow Sakura-chan." Naruto turned to leave when Sakura spoke up.

"Thank you Naruto… umm… I'm sorry about your clone; I shouldn't have done that…" At this Naruto couldn't help but grin behind his mask.

"I'll forget it this time; I've been way to angsty lately anyways, if I don't watch it I'll end up like the teme. See ya Sakura." With that Naruto turned away again and started walking away.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Naruto."

-At the Hokage Tower-

The Sandaime Hokage had been having a stressful day, the proper genin test day was always a stressful one, but thankfully that was all over now. The final jōnin instructor had come in and given his report. To say Sarutobi had been surprised when Kakashi announced that his team had passed would have been an understatement. He had of course hoped that Naruto would pass his test, but Kakashi had never passed a team before so he was greatly pleased when Kakashi had told him that team 7 passed. The Hokage was planning on leaving his office when he heard a knock on the door. He didn't know who would be visiting him now seeing as he didn't have any appointments, but he decided he could wait a little bit before heading out and training some more. "You may enter."

"Good afternoon Hokage-sama." Hearing his title usually would mean very little to the Sandaime but recognizing who had said it could only serve to break his heart.

As the door opened the Hokage's eyes widened seeing Naruto stride into his office. He had seen the boy's new outfit, but it still shocked him. The red tipped hair, the dark clothes and the mask, it was all very different from the young hyper child that he was once and hoped to be close to again. "Naruto, please sit down, what can I help you with?"

Naruto struggled with himself for a moment before finally sitting down in front of the Hokage's desk he took another moment collecting himself before finally speaking, "Can you tell me why?" The Hokage knew this had been coming, but it still didn't make it any easier, he only hoped his reasons would be enough for his surrogate grandson.

"Before I explain Naruto I want you to know that I am truly sorry that I didn't tell you earlier." He took a breath before continuing, "My only excuse for keeping the truth of your family from you is that I did it for your own safety. Looking back on it, I realize how foolish it was to not just tell you outright about your mother, it was actually one of the reasons I suggested you look in the shinobi records in the first place. I knew that your Kushina's information would be in there, but as for your clan information… I didn't know how to tell you that… it seems that one of my greatest failings has been to think of you as a child, but I didn't want to have to tell you that your mother's clan had all been killed. I never knew that the Uzumaki histories had been destroyed, and I promise you that I have punished those responsible, but I can only apologize and say it was just another mistake made by an old man. I never should have let the council interfere so much when it came to you Naruto… I'm truly sorry."

The hokage looked at Naruto trying to discern what his response would be, he knew the reason's he gave had not been the best, but he was having trouble finding the right words to try and explain himself. "You're right, you shouldn't have let the council mess with me so much, but then again I know that they got what they deserved for it… I've kinda been watching the council meetings. But I just really wish you had at least told me her name. It was all I ever wanted as a kid, just knowing my mom's name would have meant the world to me… I mean yeah it sucks what happened to my clan but it only makes it more important that I know about it, I mean I may not know everything but if I'm the last of the Uzumaki then that makes me their heir. This means I have responsibilities to them. I understand that you didn't want to make me more upset telling me that my clan had all been killed off, but back when I was at the orphanage the matron used to tell me that my parents probably abandoned me cause I was a monster! I… I just wish you had told me…"

Hiruzen looked away from Naruto and down at his desk, this was just another time where he truly felt his age. "Naruto, if I could do it differently I would, and I promise that someday I will tell you about your father, I can't yet, but I promise that I will… I know might not like to hear this, but you can't know about him yet for your own safety…"

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei told me that too… I can wait to learn about him I guess but It sucked going through almost 13 years having no idea who I was or where I came from, I'm glad I know now, I just wish I had known earlier."

"I'm sorry Naruto; it seems that I keep making mistakes when it comes to you… I just hope one day you can understand that I only did what I thought was best for you…"

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before the blonde spoke up, "Well I guess you already know but my team passed Kakashi-sensei's test."

"Yes, I heard, congratulations Naruto I know your mother would be very proud of you."

"I hope so… I just don't want to know what she would have thought of when I ran away from the village…"

The hokage actually chuckled at this causing the red tipped blonde to look up, "I wouldn't worry about that Naruto, you're mother had quite the temper, if it was her then she probably would have done something even more drastic. In fact it was more than just her, the entire Uzumaki clan was known for their tempers. So I wouldn't worry so much about when you got upset."

Naruto smiled a bit behind his mask hearing this, "… thanks Jiiji."

The Hokage could only smile hearing that, he knew he had a long way to go before Naruto fully trusted him again, but it was a start. "Anytime Naruto, anytime." He watched as Naruto stood up to leave the office when something Naruto said came back up in his mind, _"Wait, did he say he's been watching the council meetings?"_

* * *

BAM, done another chapter, I hope you guys liked it. I rewrote it at least 3 times, hence the late post. I can't wait to hear what you all think about it. I know it was different from the canon, but I hope you guys enjoyed it, I liked the little fight scene in there, I'd really appreciate it if you told me what you thought of it. Anyhow, I hope this chapter helps clear up some of the confusion I've been getting in my responses to Naruto's attitude. Also Naruto and the Hokage are on the road to getting along again, so I hope that makes you guys all happy, I really like the Sandaime, and it always bugged me in the canon how he dealt with Naruto, so I hope you all like how I'm writing him.

I'll do my best to get the next chapter out by Sunday, but no promises, I think that it makes the most sense for me to just say I'll have a chapter out every week, I'm still going to try for Sunday postings, but this chapter dragged me through the wringer, and I can't say for sure that it won't happen again.

So as I always say, please leave me a review if you enjoyed it, or have any sort of criticisms and suggestions, I thrive off of your comments, and I really do appreciate them, they are what makes my writing all the more worthwhile.

Anyhow, Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	10. Chapter 10 - Nindō

Hey Everyone, I know, I'm sorry I'm late again, and I'm even later than I had thought I was going to be, the only thing I can say in my defense was that I had a hard time figuring out exactly what to do with this chapter. However that is all over now, and my writing shall continue.

Anyhow, I once again would really like to thank everyone who reads and reviews my stories, I'm sorry for making you guys wait for this, after all the support you've all given me. But I would just like to say that I really appreciate all the support and suggestions you have given me, It means so much to me that you enjoy my story, and it is great to be able to talk with you all so that I know what you like and what you'd like to see, I hope you guys keep up with the reviews, I read all of them, and I use you guys suggestions to try and make this story as good as I can.

Now I feel that it is my duty to inform you all that Kishimoto is still ignoring my emails so I still don't own Naruto...

So now without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 10.

* * *

"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Nindō**

"SILENCE!"

A dead silence fell across the council chambers as the Sandaime Hokage's fist slammed down on his table. Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his eyes slowly before turning back to the council members sitting in the room. It had been two weeks since Naruto had let slip how he had somehow been listening in on the council meetings, and after several fruitless inquiries as to how he was getting into the meetings he invited Naruto to attend, as the clan heir of the Uzumaki. He had known that it would most likely cause an uproar with some of the councillors, but he felt that it was also the only chance some of the more reasonable councillors would have for asking for the rights to use the Uzumaki Crest again, he didn't really think that Naruto would agree, but at least it would mean they would stop pestering him about it.

Sadly as soon as the young mask wearing shinobi entered there was a general outcry from the entirety of the civilian council, as well as the elders. He couldn't believe that the council was still acting this way when it came to Naruto. He had made it clear recently how little he would tolerate the council acting against the young Uzumaki. He wished that the civilians would see the boy how his father had wished for him to be viewed, but as time went on he had grudgingly been forced to acknowledge that no matter what the Yondaime or he wished, he couldn't force the villagers to change their minds.

He looked over the gathered council again, and was pleased to see that at least the members of the shinobi council had not reacted poorly to Naruto's presence, but he felt that that might also be because the news as to Naruto being responsible for the loss of the spiral they once wore. Of course initially some of the shinobi councillors had spoken against the Hokage granting Naruto's request, but it had surprisingly been Hyūga Hiashi who had spoken in the young boys favour, reminding them that a clan's symbol was to be used as the clan saw fit, and it wasn't the right of anyone besides the leader of the clan. Of course the Hokage knew that Hiashi hadn't spoken out of goodwill to the boy, it was merely his way of reminding the majority of the shinobi council to not interfere with clan business.

Either way though, whatever his intent had been, Hiruzen was still grateful for Hiashi quelling some of the major outbursts from the shinobi councillors. Looking around again Sarutobi noticed that Kakashi had yet to arrive, but just shook his head deciding that it was best to just proceed with the meeting.

Naruto was getting kind of bored in the meeting room; he was a bit upset with himself that he had mentioned that he had been listening in on the council meetings. He was tempted to imitate his surrogate grandfather and sigh thinking back to how much less of a hassle it was to just have his clones watch the meeting for him. He hadn't been paying the closest attention to what the civilian councillors were discussing, he had decided it would be best to try and ignore them, that plan went out the window when he heard one of the civilians say something about the 'demon' again.

He had only recently started giving more thought to how the villagers treated him, and if it hadn't been so awful for him growing up, he could almost find their logic amusing. He was currently thinking back to a time when a mob had started chasing him, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"What do you think you're laughing about demon?!" Naruto's eyes narrowed at this and he turned towards the councillor before replying.

"What's it to you?" Of course this caused some of the other civilians who had been supressed by the Hokage's outburst earlier to start being vocal again.

"How dare you speak like that to one of us demon!?"

"Watch yourself demon spawn!" And just like that the civilians were up in arms again, the Hokage was about to say something when he heard Naruto laughing. Even the civilians ranting died down after a minute or so realizing that the demon brat was just laughing at them, this of course only angered them further, but Naruto's laughter had gotten loud enough that they doubted that their yelling would drown it out.

After another minute of this the laughter died down and Naruto wiped a tear from his eye before turning to look at the civilian councillors and though it wasn't visible he had his trademark grin on behind his mask, "Man, I can't believe how stupid you guys are."

To say the councillors were shocked was an understatement, the only other sound made was by the Inuzuka clan head who seemed to be suppressing her chuckling at the young genin calling the civilians all stupid.

"I mean come on, you are all so scared of the demon but you decide that the smartest thing to do is to make his life a living hell? I mean wow, the one and only person in the village who you are all so certain could destroy the village an everyone in it, and you all think that it's ok to have him beaten and starved, you guys really thought that one through. Oh man could you believe what would have happened if I actually was the demon, oh Kami, you all would have probably been eaten or something, I dunno but I doubt a giant demon fox would take kindly to people beating on it or chasing after it with mobs. I can't believe that everyone calls me the idiot."

The young genin continued to laugh for a few more moments until one of the civilians councillors spoke up, "Who do you think you are to talk to us like that you demo-"Or at least he tried to speak when he suddenly felt something cold and sharp at his throat. The entire room gasped at the sight of one Hatake Kakashi seemingly appearing out of nowhere holding a kunai to the councillor's throat.

"Hm, sorry I was late but I had to help a little old lady with her groceries…" At this everyone in the room sweat dropped so Kakashi just continued, "Anyways though, you were about to start talking about a SS Class Secret, and if I remember correctly the penalty for speaking about that topic is death, so I figured I'd ask you, Hokage-sama if you would like me to carry out the good councillors sentence here and now?"

The room was once again silent, everyone was having a hard time deciding how to react to the silver haired jōnin's speech, from his horrible excuse to his discussing executing the councillor all while having his trademark eye smile and talking in an unsettlingly cheery voice. Finally the silence was broken by Inuzuka Tsume bursting out laughing and the Hokage sighing. "Kakashi, I ask that you release the councillor, I will speak with him later on this matter, but councillor please close the door on your way out of the meeting, I think it best if you leave, at least for now."

Kakashi just nodded at this and made his way over to sit next to his student and speaking quietly, "So Naruto I heard your little speech, I must say I'm glad you said that, I know it might have put some of them on edge but who knows maybe it could help some of the other councillors to see you more for you. Though in the future I would probably suggest skipping these meetings, and doing what you've been doing up until now…"

"How did you know about that Kakashi-sensei? The only person I told was Jiiji, so how did you know I've been listening in on their council meetings?" Naruto had been talking in a hushed voice to avoid anyone overhearing him.

"Oh, well actually I didn't know you've been doing that, but I guessed there was a reason you were invited to this, so thanks for letting me in on the cause."

"WHAT?! Are you kidding me?" At this outburst Naruto drew the Hokage's attention.

"Naruto, would you please calm down."

"Sorry Jiiji, I think I'll go now actually, I'll let you all talk about the 'interesting' stuff."

"Naruto you still should stay there are important things that some of the other councillors wanted to discuss with you."

"Ok Jiiji," Naruto said with a shrug, "I'll stay but the answer is still going to be no."

-Later, With Naruto-

Naruto was lying on his bed back in his apartment, he was thinking over everything that had been said in the meetings, and he was slightly regretting his laughing at the civilian councillors, he knew his outburst would probably have spread all across the village by now, though it would probably make him seem like he threatened to kill everyone knowing his luck.

It was only midafternoon but Naruto was still feeling drained, so he just rolled over in his bed and was shocked to see Kakashi sitting on his window frame, "Kakashi-sensei, can't you knock like a normal person?"

Looking up from his book Kakashi faced Naruto, "Hm, well I guess I could, but what fun is there in that?" Naruto just sighed at his sensei's antics.

"So what are you here for Kakashi-sensei, are you the beginning of the next wave of people coming after me for what I said in the meeting?"

"That doesn't seem like me Naruto; I just came by to tell you that I decided that team 7 would be going on a C-rank mission tomorrow."

Kakashi got the response he wanted with this, Naruto leapt out of his bed and was cheering and dancing around, the young shinobi had been bugging him for a more difficult mission since the first D-rank mission they took, he hadn't planned on taking them on any more challenging missions for a few more weeks, but looking back over what the first two weeks of team training had been like he thought that his genin would benefit from being on an actual mission, and it would probably be a good idea to get Naruto away from the village for a few days so that it could settle down after the young Uzumaki's outburst in the council meeting.

"Are you kidding me sensei, that's awesome, so what are we doing, saving a princess, or overthrowing a dictator?" Kakashi smiled at Naruto's enthusiast, _"Naruto is just like you were Obito, I am glad that he hasn't let what he's been through affect him too much."_

"Nothing like that Naruto, remember this is your first C-rank mission, we're going to be escorting a merchant back to their village, but our primary objective is to deal with the bandit group that has been terrorizing their town, usually bandits don't act up too much near Konoha, but something set these guys off, so far they've just been doing the usual stuff, but the Hokage decided that we should take care of them before they try anything bigger." Kakashi was watching his student's reaction, and saw him look worried when he mentioned the bandits, "Is everything alright Naruto, you seem worried?"

Naruto took a deep breath before he looked back at his sensei, "I'll be fine Kakashi-sensei, and it's just… I don't know, I'm worried if I'll have to kill again… I mean I know it's part of our lives as shinobi, but it doesn't make it any easier…"

Kakashi nodded at this, he was really proud that his student wasn't like so many other shinobi who acted without a care for others, "You're right Naruto, knowing what we're expected to do doesn't make it any easier, and it shouldn't, but Naruto think of it this way, I know you're not the best of friends with Sasuke and Sakura, but if one of them were in danger would you protect them?"

Naruto thought about his teammates, and couldn't imagine either of them being happy with him saving them, but he knew he still would, "Well yeah, of course I would."

"Ok, and let's say someone was trying to hurt Konohamaru, I know you've taken a liking to the kid."

"I'd do whatever it took to keep him safe, he's like a little brother to me." Naruto said it with more enthusiasm.

"Well Naruto that is how you have to look at our lives as shinobi, we do what we must to protect our precious people, it still doesn't make our lives easier, but it helps if you remember the people that you fight to protect. Just look at the Hokage, he would give up his life to protect everyone in the village, from the smallest child to the oldest woman, that is what makes him such a great shinobi Naruto, he has something precious he fights to protect." After that Naruto was silent for a while, he was thinking over his life and thought of everyone who had ever done anything cruel to him, _"Would I really be willing to give up my life to protect all of them?"_ Naruto's mind flashed to the image of one man in particular, he remembered the night he got the scars on his chest, the man's face was blurred out of his memory, but would he be willing to give his life for people like that?

Finally Naruto smiled, he knew who he was, and he knew that no matter what the people of his village did to him, he would still fight for them, he may have many dreams, but he knew he wouldn't every be satisfied until his village accepted him, and if it took himself sacrificing himself to keep them all safe then he would do it. "I think I'd like that Kakashi-sensei, to be able to fight to protect everyone in the village, even if they hate me, it doesn't matter, I will still protect them, I don't go back on my word, because that is my nindō –ttebayo!"

Kakashi smiled at the red tipped blonde's enthusiasm, _"You'll do just fine Naruto." _Kakashi looked back at his student then out through the window, "Alright then Naruto, we're going to be meeting up at the North gates at 9 tomorrow morning, I'd suggest packing for a week long mission as a precaution. Anyhow I have to go, I still haven't told Sasuke or Sakura about this, see you tomorrow Naruto." With that Naruto watched his teacher jump out his window.

Naruto got out of his bed and summoned a few clones, giving them various tasks to prepare for the next few days, while he went over some of his recent seals; he had been working on a more practical way of carrying his weapons around with him for quick. Naruto had been racking his brains trying to come up with something, he had debated putting the seals on his weight bands, but he had looked into overlapping seals that had already been set, and he didn't like to look of what might happen. Finally Naruto decided he's just ask someone else for help coming up with an idea, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something painfully obvious, but he hoped that his new highly logical friend could help him with it.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle remembering the time he had met up with Shino after completing Kakashi's test, he had been strolling through the village when he noticed the young Aburame walking through the village, and he debated the best way to approach him, before realizing that he was overthinking it, something that he laughed at seeing as he wasn't really known for being the type to think about anything. He decided to just walk up and talk with Shino. After quite a bit of one word replies to almost anything he had said, he decided to ask Shino something about his clan's bug techniques. That had gotten the Aburame's attention, and he went into detail discussing the insects, and how his clan used them. After that talking to Shino had been relatively easy, and though Shino was still quiet, he didn't object to Naruto's questions.

In fact he had actually been very supportive on one of the ideas that Naruto had suggested the last time they spoke, Naruto had come up with the idea of having larger training sessions with the other rookie 9 and Rock Lee's team, he thought it would help them all work together, seeing as he figured they'd end up working together at times throughout their shinobi careers. And if they trained together, they would be able to help figure out where other people needed to work the most, as well as how to work together.

Naruto was making his way through the village looking for the bug user when he remembered the other boy mentioning having a mission in the afternoon, _"Well I hope he's done, I want see if he has any ideas on what to use for sealing my weapons… I know I'll send a clone to the Hokage tower so that it can ask him when his team shows up after finishing their mission."_ With that thought in mind Naruto decided to head out to train at his team's training ground, he had become quite familiar with the area that made up training ground 7, and he liked it, it also had a large lake that allowed him to practice Fūdoken, without being interrupted, he still wasn't ready to use it in combat, but he felt that soon with help from his clones he'd be able to test it.

It was getting into the evening when Naruto felt a rush of information, and promptly lost his concentration causing him to fall into the water. After dragging himself out of the lake and coughing up what felt like a gallon of water he started smacking his head against the ground, "Baka, Baka, Baka, BAKA, how in the hell did I not think up of gloves?! I'm such an idiot!" With that Naruto flopped onto his back and started rubbing his head, he couldn't believe the reaction he had gotten from Shino when he mentioned the idea he was struggling with, Shino just looked at him with one eyebrow raised and asked him why he hadn't thought of using gloves. Naruto's clone had screamed out in shock and started smashing its head against a wall, causing it to dispel.

Looking up at the sky Naruto determined that it might still be early enough to ask Tenten for her opinion on the matter as well, he had started carrying his weapons in scrolls at her suggestion when he had mentioned he was studying fuinjutsu, and it seemed to work for her, so he figured he'd ask her in case she had tried it, and it hadn't worked for her.

Another twenty minutes of searching later he was facing Tenten, and he told her about the idea, her reaction was much less over the top than his, "I guess that would work, it would certainly make it easier than having to pull out a scroll every time you want a kunai or shuriken, I mean my way works for me, cause I'm a long ranged fighter, but someone like you who is more close ranged it makes sense for that, even so, it would still be a nice thing to have a pair of gloves like that, but I don't know if I'd good enough with fuinjutsu yet to be able to create a sealing matrix like you're suggesting using."

"Well then in that case, why don't I just make you a pair as well, I was going to make mine tonight, cause I'm on a C-rank mission tomorrow, but I could get a pair done for you as well if you'd like."

"Really? That'd be great Naruto, you're the best."

"Of course I am, Believe it!" Naruto couldn't resist the opportunity to adopt Gai and Lee's good guy pose saying that, and seeing Tenten's face vaulting was worth it. "Ok then Tenten, I gotta go, say hi to Lee and Gai for me, I'll send a clone with a pair of gloves for you tomorrow morning when we usually all train together."

Naruto took off heading towards the market, hoping that the store Tenten had showed him was still open. It seemed that luck was on Naruto's side as he made it just as the store owner was about to close up the store, after a few seconds of pleading the man let Naruto in, and helped him find some gloves. The store owner grumbled a bit when Naruto asked him if he could engrave the Uzumaki crest into the plate on the back of his gloves, but he still agreed and had Naruto wait a few minutes as he removed the plates and took them into the back room so he could engrave them quickly.

Later that evening Naruto was sitting in his living room looking over the sealing matrix he had prepared, it wasn't particularly complicated, having seals for both the kunai, shuriken and ninja wire in an interwoven pattern, he had a prepared a seal for both gloves, but it had taken him longer than he had hoped to get all four of the seals done. He was currently just making finishing touches on the seal matrixes. He decided to do a test run on the seal before imprinting them onto the gloves, so he gathered all of his tools. Another five minutes later, he was satisfied with how the seal functioned, he placed the matrixes over the gloves, "Fuin: Imprint."

After testing the seal's functionality once again, he began sealing his kunai shuriken and ninja wire into his gloves, he had actually decided to get a few more sets of kunai and shuriken when he was at the store so he wouldn't be as worried of running short. Satisfied with his work he put his gloves and Tenten's aside to be delivered the next morning.

-At the Uchiha Compound-

Uchiha Sasuke was standing panting in the training ground trying to catch his breath, his sensei had stopped by earlier to inform them that they were going on their first C-rank mission. He was glad that they were finally done with the stupid and worthless D-rank missions, _"Who do they think they are, making me, an Uchiha do stupid chores for the villagers, well at least I finally have a mission more worthy of my stature, even if it is just dealing with bandits, at least it's better than painting old peoples fences..."_

Sasuke's thoughts went back to the training sessions his team had been having, they were in his opinion worthless for someone like him, but he was starting to get frustrated with his other teammates, he had always hated how the pink haired girl always focused more on him than training, but the bigger issue was Naruto, he had always done so terribly in the academy, and now he was basically level with him, _"Hn, no he's not nearly level with me yet, that dobe never could be, but still, how'd he get so powerful so quickly… I'll have to get the idiot to give me his secret, he doesn't deserve that power, but I need it so I can finally make Itachi pay…"_

-With Sakura-

Haruno Sakura was currently lying in bed thinking about her team's next mission, she was actually really worried about having to fight bandits, she had been the top kunoichi in her class, but most of that was thanks to her studying habits, she knew her sensei would keep her safe, and she guessed that Sasuke would save her if she got in too much trouble, but Naruto was the problem. She still couldn't forget how she had been so humiliated when she had gotten tied up to that post because of him, _"It's the baka's fault, if it weren't for him Sasuke-kun could have showed Kakashi-sensei all his amazing skills, I just hope Naruto doesn't get in the way of me and Sasuke-kun."_

She had spent a week trying to figure out what was up with Naruto, but he seemed to be getting back to normal, well not entirely normal, he had stopped bugging her for dates, she was both glad of that and a bit upset because she had liked the attention, she had also had to stop herself from smacking him at anything she said because he had a habit of catching her hits and getting her told off by their sensei, he had embarrassed her so many times around Sasuke during the past few weeks she was getting really frustrated, she just shook her head at the thought of her teammate, she still couldn't figure out how Naruto had changed so much, he was even taller than her Sasuke now, _"Ugh, I can't stand that baka, trying to look cooler than my Sasuke-kun!"_ She shook her head and got back to trying to sleep, she had packed everything she thought she needed for their mission, and just hoped everything went well.

-At the North Gates of Konoha-

The sun was shining, the civilians were working on their daily chores and a group of three irritated genin were awaiting the arrival of their notoriously late sensei, it was only 11 in the morning, but they had hoped Kakashi wouldn't be late on their first C-rank mission. Naruto was just leaning against the village wall looking over one of the scrolls he was carrying on him, Sasuke and Sakura noticed he had a new pair of fingerless gloves that he was wearing, but Sakura had noticed something that had made her smirk, she had noticed that Naruto wasn't carrying a backpack on him, she might have reminded him of it, but she felt it would be a great chance to get him back for embarrassing her, she was just getting frustrated with how often she was being shown up in their training, this chance to make him embarrassed was just too great of an opportunity to miss.

After another ten minutes the teams silver haired instructor finally appeared, "Hey guys, sorry I was late but the mask store was out of masks, so I had to go to the other side of the village to find one I liked." Sakura was about to call him a liar when she realized that that was most likely the most believable reason for his being late he had ever given them, granted it was still ridiculous but she let it slide.

Naruto walked up and spoke, "Well now that you're here can we get going sensei?"

"Soon Naruto, after all we still are waiting for the client."

"Are you joking, you mean that they're even slower than you… this is going to suck."

"Well it's not such a bad thing, it'll give me a chance to see how well you all prepared for the mission, ok guys, bring out your previsions and equipment for inspection."

Sakura smirked at this, it was finally her chance, "But Kakashi-sensei, what about Naruto, it looks like he forgot to bring his backpack with him." She had said it all as innocently as she could and she just watched as Kakashi smiled back at her.

"Well Naruto, would you like to show Sakura and Sasuke your equipment first then?" Much to his teammate's confusion Naruto just nodded at this and took several of the scrolls he was carrying out of the holsters on his pant legs. Unrolling them in order he began pointing out the different scrolls.

"Well this one has basic food rations in it, as well as some extra water bottles in case I'm in a place I need some water or something. This one contains some basic survival equipment, like rope a hunting knife, and stuff for making traps in case I need to set something up quickly, or need to set traps for food, and this one has a sleeping bag, a blanket and my tent." Naruto channelled some of his chakra into each of the scrolls, and demonstrated how he had everything he had said, both agitated and curious Sasuke spoke next.

"What do you have in the other scrolls dobe?"

"Well that's a secret teme." Naruto just chuckled at Sasuke's annoyed expression as he turned away, sensing something, he leaned to the side in order to avoid Sakura's fist. "Oh come on Sakura-san what did I do this time to deserve that?"

Sakura of course having acted out of instinct took a second to evaluate everything that had happened just sighed knowing that she had gotten what she deserved for trying to make Naruto look like an idiot, she finally turned back to her masked teammate, "Sorry Naruto… anyways sensei should I show you my equipment now?"

Another 10 minutes of checking over equipment later their employer arrived, he was riding in a wagon with another two people who Naruto assumed were his family, and the wagon was being pulled by a horse. Kakashi had a few words with their client whom Kakashi had referred to as Hito before turning back to his genin, "Ok guys, we'll be heading out, keep on the lookout for anything suspicious it'll be about a twelve hour trip so we'll be stopping once for the night, let's head out.

Nine hours later in a small clearing the group was setting up for the evening, the shinobi in the group could have easily finished the trip, but the merchant was insisting he was tired and his wife and daughter needed to rest. Kakashi had agreed willingly enough, they hadn't seen any signs of trouble and were only a few hours away from the merchant's home town. The group set up camp and ate dinner without any issue before assigning watch duty and going to sleep.

The first two watch's went fine, it wasn't until the third watch that anything happened, Sakura was sitting in front of the camp fire and was still mulling over everything that had happened the past day, she was still trying to figure out why Naruto was bugging her so much when she heard a scream. She turned to see the merchant's daughter being dragged out of her tent by a large man, "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Almost immediately thirteen more men jumped out of the forest into the clearing.

"Get em, we can make a pretty penny off the girls, and it's been a while since I had any fun." He had said that looking directly at Sakura, the young kunoichi froze out of fear, she just stood there as the bandit's laughed and agreed with the one that had spoken out.

Naruto was out of his sleeping bag the second he had heard Sakura's scream, he saw his teacher jumping out of his tent and saw that the clearing was encircled by bandits, _"Why can't bandit's ever attack while I'm awake?" _Naruto turned to his sensei, he saw that Kakashi had concern in his eyes, and Naruto realized he was worried if he'd be ok, steeling his nerves Naruto nodded at his sensei before charging at the bandits.

Naruto jumped into combat noting Sasuke had also joined the fray, he charged at the first bandit and channelled chakra to the seals in his gloves, causing two kunai to poof into existence, he leapt at the man slashing at his throat before kicking off the man's chest and launching himself towards another bandit, this one reacted a bit faster and raised a blade blocking the kunai strikes, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the young Uzumaki rolling under his legs and slicing at the tendons in his legs before going after the next bandit.

Kakashi was watching impressed with how well Naruto was dealing with the bandits, he was worried that Naruto would be upset over what happened later, but he felt confident that Naruto would be fine this time.

Naruto had taken down four of the bandits when he noticed the one standing in front of Sakura, charging forward again, he dodged a bandit's sword swing leaving him to either his sensei or other teammate. Coming out of a roll Naruto channeled some chakra to his feet and rocketed himself at the bandit. The bandit having been caught completely off guard found himself launched backwards into a tree, he was fought to remain conscious as he saw the blue eyed boy stab his kunai into his chest, fading into darkness, the last thing he heard was the voice of the young shinobi.

"You will not harm my comrades, I will protect them with everything I have, and I won't go back on my word, because that is my nindō."

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BAM, done with chapter 10, I hope you all enjoyed it, I can't wait to see what you all thought of it, I know that this mission didn't happen in the canon, but I liked the idea of having a proper mission before Wave, so to anyone who was worried/dreading/hopeful the mission to wave is still going to happen, it'll be pretty soon after they get back from this one, also I've started bringing in some other characters from canon, I don't plan on having any major OC's the only ones I'll have are people like family Hiruzen introduced Naruto to back in chapter two, or one off characters who are only named because it sounds odd to keep calling them by their title, essentially the only OC's will be minor characters.

Also to everyone who has been asking me when Hinata is going to come into the story, she will start making regular appearances soon, after all if Naruto has started hanging out with Shino, he's going to end up around Hinata a lot more too, so rest assured that I haven't forgotten about her. I should also mention to everyone who was maybe a bit confused by Sakura's character this chapter that that was my goal, Sakura herself is confused by everything that's happening around her, so she's having trouble figuring out how to act, her character has always seemed to make her decision based off of those around her, and with all the changes happening she's trying to figure out where she fits in, don't worry though, everything is written the way it is for a reason.

Another thing I should mention, because I have a feeling if I didn't I might get accused of stealing the idea of it, Naruto using his gloves to carry around his weapons is to me just a smart thing for anyone who can use fuinjutsu to do, I mean it is far more convenient than always having to reach for a weapon. But I wanted to mention it, because I know it is also something that is used by jbriz in his story The Uzumaki Tales: Return of the Whirlpool. I had thought of that before I read his story, but seeing as it was also used there I felt I should mention it, in case anyone was worried about my taking other peoples ideas.

But getting off the serious note, I hope you guys liked the chapter, and as always I ask that you leave a review and let me know what you think, or what you think I could improve on, I'm always happy to hear suggestions and the more input you give me the better I can make this story for you guys, so yeah, please review and if you have any suggestions or something you'd like to discuss with me personally feel free to send me a PM hearing what you guys think of my story makes my writing all the more fulfilling, so I look forward to hearing from you.

Anyhow, Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	11. Chapter 11 - A Town in Distress

Hey everyone, I don't know what to say... I'm late again, and it seems to be becoming an irksome habit. I don't even really have an excuse this time, I had some troubles writing this chapter, but I shouldn't have let it get in my way of writing as much as I did, so I wanted to apologize to you all for that. I hope that the next chapter will be out soon, and I'm working on allocating my time better. But I wanted to say, thank's a bunch for all the reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad to see you guys liked it, and I hope I live up to your expectations.

Reading the reviews and talking with you guys so I can hear all your opinions is an awesome thing to me, and I hope you guys continue with it, it makes my task writing all the more enjoyable knowing you enjoy my story. Anyhow, I want to thank you all for the support, because at the end of the day, I write this story for you guys to read, and hearing from all of you makes any of the frustrations of writing worth it.

Because Kishimoto doesn't want to share the wealth, I do not own Naruto.

So now without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 11.

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"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

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**Chapter 11 – A Town in Distress**

Kakashi was looking over the camp after the failed assault made by the bandits, he was remarkably pleased with how Naruto had handled himself in the situation, he was also glad to see that Naruto seemed to be alright, he had been relatively quiet after the bandits had all been taken care of, but he hadn't shown any signs of breaking down again, something he was thankful he wouldn't have to deal with while having to look after clients as well.

He looked at the other two genin on his team with mixed reactions, Sasuke had joined in the fray rather quickly, he had kept a closer eye on Naruto during the attack, but he had seen the young Uchiha take down quite a few of the bandits as well. He had been surprised that Sasuke had only subdued the bandits, even the one who had launched a Katon jutsu, while he was suffering a few burns, the brunt of his attack was borne by one of the tents, overall though the man would heal fine. Well he would if he weren't going to be executed for his crimes, but he was surprised that Sasuke hadn't killed any of his attackers.

Sakura though was another matter, she had sounded the alarm, but after that she did nothing, he understood that on occasion when faced with high levels of Killing Intent an inexperienced shinobi could sometimes freeze up, Naruto had reminded him of that recently with his last encounter with the bandits, but unlike Sakura he had gotten control of himself. He decided that he'd need to have a chat with his pink haired student soon, if how she reacted was any sort of indication to how she would act in a combat situation then she would be a danger to herself and the entire team. Another thing he had noticed was that she had not said anything since the attack, he had however seen her casting worried glances towards Naruto, yep he was going to need to find out what was wrong so he could help her get through it.

Kakashi suppressed a sigh as he gave the camp a final once over, not surprisingly Hito and his family had not wanted to remain at the camp site after the attack, and had requested that he and his team lead them the rest of the way towards their hometown as soon as they could leave. The silver haired jōnin wasn't really upset with their request, after all even an ex-ANBU like him wasn't fond of the idea of sleeping surrounded by corpses. Kakashi made his way over to the surviving prisoners, after the attack he dispatched most of the bandits, but he decided that it couldn't hurt to have a few of them for questioning later, he couldn't help but smirk as the men started struggling as he approached. Giving them one of his eye smiles, he changed course and walked over to his semi-blonde student.

"So Naruto, how're you doing?" Naruto looked up at his sensei and saw that there was once again concern in the man's eyes.

"I'm ok Sensei, I did what I had to too protect my comrades and the clients, I'm not happy or anything, but I'll be fine."

"Well if you're sure then I trust you, just know if you need to talk about it, you are welcome to come to me."

"I know, thanks Kakashi-sensei, but I'll be fine, maybe after we're done with the mission, but until it's over I will be ok." Naruto saw his teacher nod to him before going to check on his teammates, so he got back to running over his gear. He was upset when he discovered that his tent had been damaged, apparently in the fighting Sasuke had used another katon jutsu and had burnt part of it, he was getting kind of upset with the Uchiha and his fire and decided that he would talk to Kakashi about it later.

He knew that they had been fighting, but this was the second time his teammate had damaged him in some way with his techniques and he wanted it stopped. He had been glad the Kakashi hadn't commented on anything when he had searched all the bandit's, it was kind of morbid, but if they had anything of value on them then it made sense to check. He had used one of his storage scrolls to collect anything he got off of the bandits, it was mainly just weapons, but he figured what he couldn't use himself he could always just sell when he got back home.

Eventually Kakashi gave them the signal to move out, they made their way through the forest, and soon they saw the town off in the distance, they continued on their way until they found themselves standing outside the town.

"State your business here." Looking up Team 7 saw a few men standing near the town entrance, from what Naruto could see they looked like farmers, but they'd taken it upon themselves to throw on some armor, and were carrying some weapons, _"I guess the bandits have been giving them a lot of trouble if they've started walking around like this."_ Kakashi stepped forward and raised his arms to show he meant no harm.

"Hmm, well you see we were hired to escort this family through the woods to the town, and help however we could, we have some bandits who attacked our camp during the night, most of them were dealt with, but we brought these ones in to be judged." The farmers-turned guards looked between each other before the one who seemed to be in charge turned back.

"Well I don't know what one man and a couple kids could do to help us, but you can wait here till the village elder gets here, one of you, get these thugs to the prison."

Kakashi relinquished possession of the bandits, or more accurately, Kakashi told Naruto to have his clones hand over the bandts, they had been keeping out of the way, but now that their purpose had been served they dispelled.

"Hmmm, well we can wait, we are here earlier then we thought we wou-"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Kakashi was cut off by the scream of a woman who had walked up to them to see what was happening. The guards somewhat clumsily drew their weapons while the shinobi just looked between each other confused. Naruto however just sighed at the yelling; Kakashi heard this and turned back to the boy, "What's wrong Naruto?"

Naruto looked pointedly down at himself and back at Kakashi. The masked shinobi followed his gaze and saw the condition his student was in and nodded, "I'll be back in a couple minutes Kakashi-sensei."

"Ok Naruto we passed a stream a few minutes ago, I'd suggest you go get cleaned up there and meet us back in town.

"Ok, see you guys soon."

"Where's the Dobe going Sensei?"

"Well Sasuke, I think that seeing a young boy covered in blood is not a sight that the civilians here are used too."

Sasuke nodded at this while the village guards were getting more and more worried that they hadn't noticed that the boy covered in blood, but hearing the people talk about it like it was nothing was just putting them on edge, they were also worried hearing that the man would just allow one of the kids to run off into the woods filled with bandits. It didn't take long as they waited by the village entrance for Hito and his family to decide to take their leave, after all they were citizens of the town, so they were free to go. They thanked Kakashi and his team for their protection and left the group at the gate. After waiting for nearly half an hour they heard another voice calling out to them.

"What are you fools doing, let the shinobi through." The small gathering looked back to see a middle aged man walking towards the group, the guards at this, started putting their weapons away, feeling rather grateful that the shinobi hadn't reacted poorly to their actions, being this close to Konoha at least left them aware of how dangerous shinobi could be.

"Elder-sama, we didn't know what to do, there's been so much happening we didn't really think about it."

"It's ok you men can go." At this all the guards made their way away from the group.

After the guards departed the middle aged man bowed towards Kakashi, "I'm sorry about that shinobi-san I am the village elder of Kantan Machi, welcome to our humble town."

Seeing that the confrontation was concluded Kakashi turned to address the elder, "Elder-sama I am Hatake Kakashi, and this is the majority of my team, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, my other student should be back with us shortly. We were sent by the Hokage to escort Hito, the merchant and his family to his home town, and deal with your bandit problem, as you can guess Hito took his leave after we arrived, so we now just have to take care of your bandit issue" At this the elder looked relieved.

"Oh, thank you Hatake-san, the bandits have only been getting more and more daring… a few nights ago they escalated their crimes… they took several women and children." His voice dropped at this, obviously the situation was weighing heavily on him.

"Well then, we'll just need to get them back, and kick all those bastard's asses for taking them." The group all turned around hearing the new voice, Kakashi smirked to see Naruto returning, he figured he wouldn't have been very long, "Sorry I'm late, I had to clean myself up and get changed. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

-With Team 7at the Inn-

It had been a few hours since team 7 had arrived at the only inn of Kantan Machi, Kakashi had been going over everything the village elder had told him about the bandits. The genin had all returned from their own information gathering missions a while ago, and with all the intel they had gathered Kakashi had formulated a plan.

"Alright my cute little genin, before I tell you what I'm planning, I'd just like to say that I'm really proud of how you've handled yourself so far on this mission, you all knew before we left that we'd have to deal with bandits, and I was pleased to see how well you dealt with it." Kakashi noticed Sasuke and Naruto look somewhat proud at his words, but saw them both cast a glance at Sakura as well who had her head down. "Anyways as you know our mission was not only to protect Hito and his family, but also to deal with the group of bandits that has been troubling Kantan Machi. The bandits used to be satisfied with just troubling travellers, but as you all know they began kidnapping women and children a few nights ago, we don't know what they've taken them for but I can assure you that it is not a pleasant fate that awaits them if we don't act quickly."

Kakashi looked over his students again before continuing, "Now for my plan we're going to be split up into three groups, Infiltration, Assault and Containment, I'm not sure exactly who I want doing what yet, but I'll let you give me your thoughts on it in a minute. The plan is for whoever is on infiltration to gain access to the bandit hideout, and see if they can find the captives, at which point they are to try and remove the captives from danger if they can, their other job is to send us a signal to let us know when it is time for the rest of us to move in, everyone not on infiltration will also spend their time surveying the bandit hideout, and laying traps if they can so that once we are sure that the captives are safe, we can take down the hideout as quickly as possible." Kakashi finished his speech and looked over his students waiting for them to speak.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei, are you saying that whoever is on infiltration is going to be alone in the bandit's hideout? Isn't that dangerous? Wouldn't it make sense for you to do that part of the mission then?" Kakashi looked over Sakura before he replied to her.

"Yes Sakura, it is a dangerous mission, I would usually agree that I should do the infiltration, but seeing as this is our first C-rank mission, I felt it would be best if I dealt with more direct combat, and besides I wanted to see if any of you little genin thought you could pull this off." Kakashi said the last part with his infamous eye-smile; it was slightly unnerving to the genin how their teacher could talk about sending them into dangerous situations so calmly.

Kakashi looked over his other students and saw that they both looked like they were debating something, he noticed Sasuke open his mouth to say something, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by his other male genin, "I think I should do it Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask at that, he thought that Naruto would be the best to send for this part of the mission, however apparently his teammates did not, "What do you mean you should dobe, knowing you you'll probably set off every alarm in the place, and we'll have to come in to save you from getting yourself killed." Kakashi was about to reprimand Sasuke for his insults but stopped when Naruto spoke.

"Shut up teme, out of all of us, I'm the best person to do infiltration, after all I am pretty sure I'm the only genin to ever sneak into ANBU headquarters and get out undetected, and on top of that, because I can do Kage Bunshin, if I get into trouble I can make a whole bunch of them to help me hold any bandits off until you guys all get there." Naruto now had his arms crossed and was staring down Sasuke.

"Yeah right dobe, who'd believe that you snuck into ANBU headquarters, ANBU are the elite of the shinobi forces, there's no way an idiot like you could get into their headquarters, besides its location is supposed to be top secret, so stop making stuff up." Kakashi decided to speak up before the two boys could get into a shouting match.

"Actually Sasuke, it's true, Naruto did into sneak into ANBU headquarters undetected, and not only that he managed to play a pretty amusing prank on them while he was there. It was even more amusing hearing what Hokage-sama's reaction to Naruto's joke was." Sasuke was somewhere between seething and shocked, _"How are you getting so much stronger Dobe?"_, Sakura on the other hand was just shocked.

Losing his inner debate Sasuke finally turned to Naruto, "Ok dobe, what was this prank you pulled on them?"

"It wasn't really anything to insane, I just stole all their uniforms and died them bright orange, I mean I figured if I could sneak in in my old jumpsuit, then the best shinobi in the village shouldn't have a problem working in them." Naruto said it all with a confident tone in his voice, Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand were having trouble believing that he had done something like that and both turned to look at Kakashi who just nodded with a smile.

After a minute Sakura turned to their sensei, "Kakashi-sensei, what did the Hokage do when he found out what happened?"

"Well Sakura, from what I heard, the ANBU were forced to wear their new bright orange jumpsuits until their next equipment shipment arrived... two weeks later." At this Sakura's jaw hit the floor, and Sasuke made a noise that sounded like someone stifling a laugh.

"Ok, well if you all know how awesome I am now, can we keep working on the plan?" Team 7 turned back to the blonde and Kakashi just nodded.

"Ok Naruto, this is how we're going to get you into the bandit camp…"

-With Naruto that Night-

"_I can't believe that this is how Kakashi-sensei said I should get captured, I mean it makes sense but I don't have to like it."_ Naruto was currently slung over the shoulder of a bandit with a few other 'captives' under Henge. He had used a milder version of his Oiroke no Jutsu to change himself into a young woman, his fellow 'captives' were all Kage Bunshin who were also under Henge. Kakashi's plan had been simple, make noise to attract the bandits, then have him and his clones panic and try to make their way towards town, Naruto knew it would work, but he didn't like how he had to make use of his anti-pervert jutsu for it. He had needed to pump extra chakra into his clones so that they would not immediately dispel if they were bumped into, but once he and his clones had been sure they were surrounded, they surrendered to the bandits, who tied them up, and began making their way back to their base camp with the clones all slung over their shoulders.

Naruto however was still feeling rather indignant seeing as he had been subjected to the perverted stares and the occasional grope of the bandits, if he hadn't hated perverts before, he sure as hell would now, _"I promise Kakashi-sensei, once we're done with this mission, I'm going to burn all of your precious books, I swear your plan probably came from a scene in that smut."_ Stifling another sigh Naruto allowed himself to be carried through the forest. He had been keeping an eye out on everything around them, and he had to admit, he was surprised by how well disciplined the bandits were, he figured that the ones that had stumbled upon their campground the night before were probably just a patrol or something, and the ones who were sent out to grab people were the more experienced ones.

Naruto noticed that the bandit carrying him seemed to relax, so he assumed that they were nearly at their base, he waited a few minutes longer and saw them emerge from the forest underbrush into a large clearing. Looking around the area, he noted how there were tents surrounding what looked like the opening to a cave. He looked around the clearing to see more bandits emerge from the tents and the cave to meet up with their group, most of the bandits were leering at the captives, and making comments that Naruto wished he could forget, _"I swear to kami, next time Kakashi-sensei is going to transform into the girl and get himself captured by a bunch of perverted bandits…"_

Naruto came out of his thoughts to notice that the man carrying him had come to a stop in front of a new figure, looking up he noted that the man wasn't overly tall, had pale skin, and bluish white hair. He also noted that the man had two black line tattoos one coming down from each eye, and he was wearing a dark purple hat.

"Zōri, we got a good haul tonight, think this'll make the boss happy?" The man identified as Zōri looked over all of the clones, Naruto watched him walk and had to restrain himself from breaking free from his bonds when the man groped on of his clones, _"Oh yeah, this teme's going on the list, I'll get that bastard back for that…"_

"Hmm, it looks like you guys got real lucky tonight, I think we should be good for now, throw them in the cages with the others, we'll start taking them to Gatō tomorrow. We should get out of here soon anyway, we're too close to Konoha, Gatō might not think too much of ninja, but he still does have some missing-nin on his payroll so I've seen how deadly they can be." Naruto was listening intently to the man talking, and filed away this 'Gatō' to look up later, all things considered his infiltration could have gone worse, but he was still going to burn his sensei's books for putting him through the experience.

Naruto didn't have to wait long until he was carried into the cave with his disguised clones, they were carried down a series of tunnels, and brought in front of a wall of holding cells, he figured that this cave had once been a military outpost or something, but when he looked in the cages he was hard pressed to suppress his rage. The cages contained mostly young women, there were far more captives than just those who had been taken from Kantan Machi, Naruto guessed that the bandits had been kidnapping people from a bunch of nearby towns, and as he looked at the horrified and depressed faces on the women and children he felt his blood boil.

He had been abused enough to be able to guess what had happened to some of the women captured here, just looking at their defeated faces made it clear what some of them had been through. Naruto soon found himself shoved into another one of the cages and tried to ignore some of the more suggestive comments from the bandits, finally after what seemed like ages, the majority of the bandits left, leaving only two men guarding the captives, looking around Naruto took in the room, there were more than a dozen holding cells, each holding around 6 people. Naruto had been split up from a good portion of his clones, but that didn't bother him in the slightest.

"Do you think Zōri could put in a good word with Gatō for me?" Naruto looked up briefly to see the two guards in conversation; he made a point of filing away everything he heard for their mission report later. He turned to the few clones he had with him, and started giving them orders.

"I don't know, maybe we could see if we could get ourselves a raise, I mean Gatō is practically made of money, and if we get Zōri to put in a good word for us, then-" the second guard looked up, and saw some of the captives speaking in hushed voices, and quickly stood up, "Hey, you'd better shut your mouth before we shut it for you!"

"Now that's no way to talk to a lady." The voice came from behind the two guards, and the quickly turned to see that one of the captives was standing behind them on their table.

"Wha- How did you get out?"

"Get her!" The two bandits lunged at the blonde haired captive, who just smirked as the space she was standing on was filled with smoke, the guards now very worried and confused heard another voice speaking, a young, but notably male voice.

"Now, how about I teach you all a lesson."

The guards didn't know what was happening, all they knew is that they were suddenly in a world of hurt, and hadn't even had time to scream. It took less than half a minute for the guards to find themselves unconscious and tied up in a heap on the ground, notably more bruised and battered.

When the smoke finally dissipated, all the prisoners saw a young masked boy with blonde and red hair standing over the pair of bound bandits. Before addressing the prisoners Naruto nodded to all of his clones, who dispelled, giving their memories to both him, and his clone with the remainder of his team to let them know that he had successfully gotten into the bandit camp and found the prisoners. After a minute of sorting through the unpleasant memories he turned back to the women and children in the cells. "Hey, I've been sent here with my team to help you all out of here, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, a shinobi from Konoha."

Hearing that they were getting out, the majority of the captives burst out in tears, Naruto began making his way towards the cells and started unlocking them with the keys he had taken off the guards. "What's going to happen to us now?" Naruto looked up at the shaky voice and saw a young women holding looking at him worriedly. He saw the other captives all looking at him with the same questioning eyes.

"We're here to get you out of here, my team should be acting soon, they should have been laying traps around the area for a little while now, so we're going to stay in here, so I can keep you all safe."

-Outside of the Bandit Camp-

Kakashi looked over the bandit camp, he had ordered Sakura and Sasuke to run a perimeter around the camp to ensure no bandit's escaped, while he lead the main assault. He knew Naruto was with the captives, and was in the caves, as well as the fact that he had taken down the guards, so he would just have to deal with the bandits out in the camp. He looked over the camp once more, trying to gauge how many bandits would be there, before deciding to play it safe, and pulled up his headband, _"Well, let's get to work."_

-Back with Naruto-

Naruto had instructed all the captives to stay back from the entrance to the cave, he had sent a few clones to explore the rest of the caves, he kept the women and children in the area he had discovered them while his clones dealt with anyone else in the cave system, his clones had found several different areas, the most notable being where the majority of what the bandits had stolen or looted was kept, the clone quickly sealed away everything in some extra storage scrolls it had been given and had taken them back to the original.

Another clone found what seemed to be a slightly nicer sleeping area, if he guessed he would say that it was where the bandit's boss, the man named Zōri stayed when he was at the camp. Doing a quick search of the room, he didn't find much aside for some money, and a nice katana. He decided to relieve the absent man of his katana and money. He took them back to the original Naruto, to seal up with everything else.

Naruto looked up from his storage scrolls a few minutes later after hearing a scream from outside, he stowed away the scrolls, and made a quick handsign summoning an extra dozen Kage Bunshin, he doubted that they would be necessary seeing as he already had 30 waiting near the entrance to keep any bandits out who attempted to gain access to the caves, he had actually subdued another five who just had decided to come into the caves, they were all currently unconscious and bound just like the ones he had taken down when he had initially been brought into the caves. He had been a bit harsher with the subduing of a few of the bandits, but he had recognized two of them from the party that had brought him and his clones in, and they had been a few of the more 'hands on' ones. Naruto wasn't a mean individual, but he hadn't stopped his clones when they made a bigger show of subduing them.

Ignoring what had transpired in the past; Naruto looked up as he saw some bandits rush into the caves, if he had had a camera he would have loved to have a picture of their faces as they ran for safety only to see a small army of identical shinobi standing in the centre of their hideout. _"Note to self, buy a camera for moments like this."_ Needless to say, the bandits had not expected to find the small armed battalion of blondes, and as such were completely unprepared as the clones made quick work of incapacitating them. By the time the brief combat was finished, Naruto now had a pile of more than 20 bound bandits in the middle of the cave, _"Damn, this would have been like the best photo ever to show Lee…"_ He could already imagine the challenges his spandex clad would shout out after seeing something like that.

-With Kakashi-

The silver haired jōnin was standing in the centre of the clearing surrounded by the bodies of dozens of bandits, there had been more than he had expected, but none of them were any more than thugs so they hadn't posed much threat, he pulled back down his headband wanting to conserve as much chakra as possible before heading towards the cave where he had seen some of the bandits flee too. He hadn't seen any come back out so he figured Naruto had dealt with them, and he saw Sasuke entering the clearing with Sakura, he figured they were fine until he noticed the disgruntled look on the young Uchiha's face.

"Sasuke, what happened?" Sasuke looked down at the ground and mumbled something that Kakashi couldn't hear so he asked him again, "Hm, what was that Sasuke, I couldn't hear you."

"...One of them got away." At this Kakashi dropped his joking manner.

"What, how did they get away?"

Sasuke didn't answer this, opting instead to glare at Sakura who seemed to tense up under his glare, seeing this Kakashi turned on his one female student, "Ok Sakura would you like to tell me what happened?" The girl seemed to shrink under his stare, before finally speaking in a terrified sounding voice.

"W-well Kakashi-sensei, S-Sasuke-kun was fighting some of the bandits, and this other one r-ran right at me, I didn't know what to do sensei, I just got so scared… he ran right by me without even looking at me…" Sakura finished depressingly, Kakashi just sighed at this, he had been worried about Sakura since their first bandit encounter, something about that fight had shaken her and he needed to help her through it. He decided he'd have a talk with her once they got back to the village and the mission was officially completed, he doubted anything he'd say to her would help immediately, so he would deal with it later.

"Alright Sakura, these things happen occasionally, did you at lease get a good look at him?"

"Y-yes sensei, he had bluish white hair, two lines coming down from his eyes, and he had a purple hat…"

"Alright, well let's go meet up with Naruto I'll have him send out some clones to bring back the bandits you took care of Sasuke, and then we'll head back to town.

-Kantan Machi the next morning-

Kakashi stood with his squad at the gates of the town, the village elder had tried to convince them to stay an extra day for a celebration of having the bandit threat taken care of, but Kakashi insisted they needed to get back to Konoha. He was currently looking over their travelling party which now not only included his genin students, but a good portion of the captives who stated that they had no lives to return too. Hearing this, Naruto had proclaimed that they would be welcome in Konoha, and they seemed to jump at the chance of finding a new home, Kakashi couldn't help but worry at how the Hokage would react to all the paperwork this would cause, but it was true that Konoha always accepted refugees, and he figured that these people would qualify, he just hoped he wouldn't get an earful about it from the Hokage.

He had also noticed Naruto staring at him at times, he could swear that the red tipped blonde was planning something, but whenever he asked the blonde what was up, he'd just get cryptic answers in reply. Another thing he decided he'd deal with later, after all it wasn't like he was planning to do anything serious, he'd just keep an eye on the old prankster of Konoha, he just hoped he was imagining things.

* * *

BAM, done chapter 11, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to seeing what you all thought about it my first non-canon mission. I know it was a short mission, but this was supposed to be a simple mission and for the most part it was, I hope you all enjoyed some of my character foreshadowing, as I mentioned, the mission to Wave is going to be very soon, as in starting in the next couple of chapters soon.

I also had something I wanted to ask you guys your opinion on, this is something that has been mentioned to me, and I'm not sure about if I should act on the suggestion. I had planned for my story to be a Naruto x Hinata pairing, but it has been suggested to me that seeing as I'm writing a Uzumaki Clan revival story I should consider having Naruto paired with Karin, or a non bloodline wielding or clan born kunoichi. It was even suggested I create an OC for the role, I would normally not consider this but I figured it is going to become a very important aspect of the story, and I should hear what all of you have to say on the matter. Personally Naruto x Hinata is my favourite pairing, but I wanted to hear from all of you what you would like to see happen.

Aside from that though, I tried to show some more character development in this chapter, the next chapter is probably going to be more light hearted than this one, so I hope you will enjoy it. Anyhow, as I always say, please leave a review if you enjoyed it, or if you had any critiques for me, I value all your input, and I hope to hear from a lot of you, also let me know what you think about what I asked. If you have anything you'd like to directly ask me about please feel free to send me a PM. I can't wait to hear what you guys thought, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Anyhow, Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	12. Chapter 12 - Growth

Hey Eveyrone, I'm not supremely late for the first time in a while! Huzzah! ... Sorry about that, but anyways, I have the next chapter for you, and I hope you will enjoy it. There was a slight delay in my writing this one but that was because I wasn't sure how I wanted to write a part of it, but as you can see, I didn't let it me stop me from getting the chapter completed. I hope you all enjoy it, I have a few favorite moments in it, but I'll let you tell me what you liked most about it. Well that's assuming you do like it, but I'll try and stay positive.

On another note, I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I really appreciate all the feedback I got from you guys, and I hope you keep it up. It was great to see all of your thoughts on the story, so please keep the reviews going, it makes my task as a writer all the more enjoyable to hear what you all think about the story.

Now as for the major issue raised at the end of the last chapter, the votes are in (figuratively speaking) and the vast majority of you all said to keep it Naruto x Hinata. I'm sorry for those of you who wanted to see something different, but in the end something like 90% of the reviews were in support of that pairing, and it is my favorite, so that is what it is going to be. I plan on having Hinata make another brief appearance in the next chapter, so hang on for that.

I feel the need to once again Kishimoto refused to sign over the rights, so I still don't own Naruto.

So now, without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 12.

* * *

"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Growth**

"_Nine-ninety seven, nine-ninety eight, nine-ninety nine… one thousand."_ Naruto dropped to the ground. He had been practicing sword forms since sunrise, and he had finally finished his sixth set. He lay down looking up into the clear blue sky above him, it felt so relaxing. He felt he finally understood why Shikamaru spent so much of his time doing just that. Naruto had found it kind of boring since his team had returned from their mission, it had only been a couple of days, but he had hoped to tell Lee and the mission, but sadly his sparring partner was out of the village on a mission of his own. Naruto had also wanted to speak to Gai to ask if he knew any Kenjutsu so he would have someone to help him, but seeing as he wasn't there, and he hadn't seen Kakashi since their mission debriefing he could only rely on his family scrolls.

Thinking of his family scrolls Naruto was rather proud of himself, he was getting along well in Fūdoken, he still hadn't had a chance to actually use it, but he felt when he had a chance he would be able to use most of what he knew. It had actually been his taijutsu that convinced him to take up Kenjutsu, he knew his mother was supposedly very good at Kenjutsu, but he had immersed himself so much into studying his family taijutsu style he neglected most of the other scrolls he had. What had convinced him was how he realized he hadn't even had the opportunity to use his family's style yet. It had some very specific requirements to allow the style to be used to his full potential, and as such it made it difficult to use. That made him start going through the Uzumaki Kenjutsu scrolls.

It was a slow process, he had never really been much of a swordsman before, and so he was starting from nothing. It meant a lot of practice swinging his sword, and that combined with his wrist weights was causing his arms to die. Naruto was still staring up at the sky thinking about what had happened since their mission had ended, they had gone and spoken with the Hokage, and then were dismissed by their sensei who told them that they had earned a couple days off. He knew that all the former captives they had rescued had been granted refugee status with a pending citizenship, and he had seen a few of the people around, he had actually heard that all the kids who had come back with them had asked to be allowed to attend the academy.

It made him feel proud when he had spoken to some of them, they told him that he had made them all want to be hero's as well, and that they would train to become shinobi so they could do for others what he had done for them. Konohamaru had actually gotten a bit upset when the new kids had asked him to play ninja with them before he could. It ended up causing a small fight which Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the memory of. _"Ah kids, maybe I will be a sensei someday, like Kakashi-sensei… actually not like Kakashi-sensei I wouldn't read that crap he does… hmmm I still need to get him back don't I?"_

It was a couple more hours before Naruto made his way back to his apartment, he had been trying to come up with a prank he could pull on his teacher that would make the two of them even, and was still drawing a blank. He didn't even know how he'd be able to pull off anything major on his sensei. After all the man could outrun him, had more tracking skills so he would have a hard time hiding, and he could kick his ass six ways till Sunday with both arms tied behind his back… No this prank was going to need careful planning, and he'd have to wait until his teacher let his guard down, and make it something so outrageous that Kakashi wouldn't ever suspect he had been the one behind it.

-Outside a Certain Masked Jōnin's Apartment-

Kakashi felt a chill going down his spine, and instinctively reached to check that his precious book was still in its place. He didn't know what was causing him his uneasy feeling, but whatever it was he felt the very source of his perversion threatened. Kakashi shook his head returning his attention to his current task. He had postponed talking to Sakura hoping that she would come to him and tell him what was wrong, but sadly she hadn't done so and he was now seeking her out.

It took him 20 minutes walking around before he finally found the pink haired girl sitting in a park near her home. She looked up and waved briefly at him before he approached.

"Hi sensei." Sakura greeted somewhat flatly.

"Hello Sakura, how're you doing?"

"…" Kakashi stared at the girl for a few moments taking everything about her appearance, she seemed pale, and she had notable bags under her eyes. She also looked like she had been crying recently; whatever was bothering her was doing a good job of affecting everything else in her life.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Kakashi waited a few more minutes hoping the girl would talk, and finally giving up. "Sakura, what happened? You were fine until the first night on our last mission. I know that you must have been scared when our camp was attacked, but the danger only lasted a few minutes. But ever since then you've been jumping at every sound." At this the girl broke down, and Kakashi could only watch in confusion as tears streamed down her face. Kakashi patted her on the back until she seemed to calm down a bit, and finally speak in a fearful voice.

"I-I was s-so scared s-sensei." Hearing this Kakashi's tone softened.

"It's alright Sakura it's normal to be frightened when you face your first real life combat situation."

"N-no sensei, y-you don't g-get it… you d-didn't see him, h-he was like a m-m-monster." At this Kakashi looked at his student in confusion.

"What do you mean Sakura, I can understand if you were scared of the bandit-"

"I-it wasn't th-the bandit… I-I mean I was s-scared at first… b-but it wasn't him… it was N-Naruto…" At this Kakashi just stared at the girl, he had noticed her glances towards his other student but he hadn't understood what was causing them, he was about to say respond to the girl until she spoke again, "I-I finally understand why everyone always called him-"

Kakashi unable to contain his anger, accidently flared some killing intent silencing his sole female student. He looked down at her with anger in his eye and he saw the girl shrink further into her seat. "Sakura… Never suggest something like that in my presence ever again."

"B-but sen-"

Sakura was silenced by another glare from the eye of her sensei. "Sakura, I don't know how your generation has become so disillusioned, but make no mistake Sakura. We shinobi are tools of violence. We strike down those who threaten us or we are in turn struck down. It is not a pretty or joyful duty, but we do what we must. The only monsters are those who do so without remorse and those who would abandon their comrades."

Sakura just looked up at Kakashi; he was still glaring at her when his stare became less menacing and his voice softened slightly. "Sakura, I want you to think about what I've told you, because make no mistake team 7 will get into dangerous situations like the ones on our last mission again, we will run into far more dangerous situations, and if you don't think you'll be able to deal with that I need to know. So take another day to think over what I've said to you and let me know what answer you come up with. I'll see you tomorrow Sakura." With that Kakashi disappeared in a shunshin leaving Sakura sitting in the park.

She didn't know exactly what to do. She had been so scared, she still had the image or Naruto appearing in front of her covered in blood stabbing the bandit who had threatened her. Then as quickly as he appeared he was gone off fighting another bandit she guessed, while she was left to watch the life leave the bandit's eyes. Sakura looked up at the sky and let her tears fall again, she thought about their entire mission, everything had been fine before they had been attacked, Kakashi had told them that there was a high chance of Bandits attacking, but some part of her had always thought he was just being cautious. Then they were everywhere, they were strewn around their campsite oozing blood. She nearly vomited at the memory of Naruto just standing there covered in blood.

Sakura shook her head again and clasped her hands into fists. _"What are you going to do Sakura?"_ Finally steadying herself enough to stand she got up and headed towards her house. She decided she needed to talk to someone close to her to try and work through everything she had been going through. Her father didn't talk much about his life back when he was a shinobi, but if ever she needed his advice it was now.

-At the Uchiha Compound-

Sasuke was going through his handsigns in his personal training ground. He was still thinking about his team's last mission. His biggest issue with the mission was that he hadn't been the one to shine on their mission, in their first encounter with the bandits, Naruto had taken out more than him. Then on top of that Naruto had been assigned the infiltration mission and pulled it off without a hitch. On the other hand his part of the mission had ended in failure, not complete failure maybe, but because of Sakura the bandit's leader had escaped. Sasuke grunted angrily as he thought about that, he had been upset when he thought that Sakura had just let some random bandit get away from her, but when she described him, and Naruto told them that he was the one in charge of the camp, well then Sasuke had been furious.

He also couldn't get over the fact that Naruto was getting stronger, the most frustrating thing about that was that Sasuke had no idea how much stronger Naruto had gotten since the academy, sure he had trained since their time in the academy, but Naruto had gone beyond just that, it was like he had become a different person. Sasuke decided that he had to get more serious about his training, because at the rate things were going Naruto might actually surpass him, and that wasn't something he was going to let happen. _"Uzumaki Naruto… who are you really and where does your strength come from?"_

-At the Haruno household-

Sakura had been sitting on her bed for the past several hours thinking about everything her father had told her. It had taken a while for her to convince him to tell her about his time as a shinobi but eventually she managed to convince him. She however hadn't been prepared for everything he had told her. As a little girl her father had always been there to make her smile, or help wipe away her tears. She never really thought that he could be anything other than the slightly over protective father than he was; sadly today one of her allusions had been shattered as her father told her about his time in the shinobi forces. He never made it to jōnin, but he had been regarded as a talented chūnin in his day, he told her about his first mission, he told her about fighting in the third shinobi world war.

Those stories had scared Sakura most, imagining her father fighting for his life, she almost didn't want to believe some of the things he told her about his life as a ninja, but he himself had decided that it was time for him to help make Sakura realize that the life she had chosen for herself wasn't exactly what she had built it up to be in her mind.

It took her a while, but eventually she had worked up the courage to ask her father what she had been most afraid of learning, she had asked if he had ever taken a life. Not as bluntly as that, but it had been a difficult topic to broach, and eventually she had felt that she had no choice other than to just ask. Her father had gone quiet at that. Then he told her the story of the first time he had to take a life.

Sakura lay down in her bed thinking over everything she had learnt in the past several hours. They had been some of the most emotionally riveting hours of her life, she had never thought her father had ever done anything like he had told her about, she finally thought she understood why her father had never wanted her to become a shinobi. It was a much harsher life than she had ever imagined, it wasn't anything like she had grown up believing, she had heard stories of the great shinobi of Konoha, like the Yondaime who defeated an entire army of Iwa shinobi single-handedly. She felt stupid for believing that the life of a shinobi would be all heroic missions, where good conquers over evil. Her father had told her one thing that stuck in her mind, _"Nothing is white and black in this world, and that is especially true for the lives of shinobi, everything is a shade of grey, and how dark that grey is different for everyone."_

Sakura rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, _"This isn't the life I thought I wanted."_ The pink haired kunoichi had a lot to think about this night, her fear of Naruto still remained, though it seemed less severe. Sakura had to decide what she was going to do; she had spent the last few years of her life training to become a kunoichi, without really understanding what she was training for. It was definitely a time for some reflection.

-With Naruto-

Several days had passed and Naruto found himself sitting in training ground 7, Kakashi had stopped by the previous night and told Naruto that they were going to have a team training session that day. So Naruto was sitting in the training area waiting, he had one of his family's fuinjutsu scrolls. He had been rather proud of his own fuinjutsu studies before he started going through the Uzumaki scrolls. They had been arranged into different levels of difficulty, with instructions for progressing from level to level, the sheer complexity of the seals required to even open the higher level scrolls were completely mind boggling to Naruto, he had known his clan was renowned for their fuinjutsu skills, and it only took one look at the security seals on the scrolls to understand why. He couldn't even begin to understand them, and he had been rather confident that he was rather skilled at it.

It had been a sad night for Naruto when he realized he couldn't access any but the first level of scrolls. It had taken him a few days to manage to get to the second level, but he still felt somewhat saddened that he hadn't progressed farther than that. After all, there were 10 levels in the Uzumaki fuinjutsu scrolls one had to master before they would have been recognized as a seal master, so Naruto had a long way to go.

Naruto looked around and saw that his team had still not arrived so he decided to start practicing his handsigns. In his family scroll it also gave instructions for a set of handsigns unique to their sealing methods, Naruto was somewhat shocked by that but could easily see the benefit to it. It made their sealing method even more complex, and it made it impossible for anyone but an Uzumaki to use because apparently the Uzumaki had special chakra that seemed to have innately strong sealing properties.

It was another hour until one of Naruto's teammates showed their face. Sasuke strolled into the training ground glaring, and seemingly muttering to himself. In Naruto's opinion this was just the usual fair, so he didn't pay much attention and went back to practicing the handsigns. "What are you doing dobe; those don't look like any handsigns I know?" Naruto shook his head at the insult and turned to his brooding teammate.

"Well teme, that's because they aren't handsigns for anything you know." Naruto quickly re-sealed all of his scrolls, and looked back at his teammate.

"What do you mean that they aren't for anything I know?"

"Well teme, they are for my clan's fuinjutsu style. Meaning you wouldn't know anything about it." Sasuke just glared at this, he wasn't inherently angry at Naruto, but the thought of a source of power being out of his grasp was somewhat frustrating.

"Hn, whatever dobe, it probably isn't anything special anyways, and when did you start using a katana?" Sasuke had just noticed the bit of orange in Naruto's wardrobe, and saw that he had a sash over his chest that he had attached a katana to, the hilt was visible over Naruto's right shoulder, and Sasuke noticed that his teammate had also moved the white spiral he had on his leg to the centre of the sash.

"Well, I figured it was a good thing to learn teme, why do you have a problem with it?"

"Hn, I doubt you can even use that thing dobe, you'll probably cut off your own foot before you hit your land a hit with that thing." Sasuke smirked at his jibe when he saw his teammate's ire. It brought Sasuke quite a bit of satisfaction to be able to get under his teammates skin. "So why are you here so early dobe?"

Naruto blinked at the sudden turn of conversation but went along with it smoothly enough, "Well I usually train in the morning, and just because Kakashi is just about the laziest person to ever be born doesn't mean I am going to be lazy about my training." It was now Sasuke's turn to blink, he had taken to sleeping in in the mornings and apparently his teammate had been taking all the extra time and dedicating it to becoming stronger.

Sasuke let out an audible groan and mumbled, asking rhetorically why he hadn't been doing that. Sasuke though hadn't realized he spoke aloud and turned in surprise to hear his teammate laugh, "Wait a minute teme, if you haven't been training with your extra time, what in Kami's name have you been doing? Sleeping?" Sasuke was about to let out an indignant retort when a flash of light went off in his face. The second his vision stopped being blurry he was staring at a picture of himself with an indignant blush on his scowling face.

It took the Uchiha a few moments to process what had just transpired, Naruto was standing in front of him waving a picture, and holding a camera in his other hand, _"Where did he get the camera from- no wait that doesn't matter, I need to destroy that photo"_ Sasuke grabbed at the photo, but unfortunately for him it disappeared in a small poof of smoke. Sasuke just stared at Naruto blankly for a moment looking at Naruto's hands where the picture and camera disappeared, "Dobe, give me that photo."

Naruto couldn't help but grin at his teammates slightly panicked voice, obviously Sasuke thought that the photo could be damaging, so Naruto wasn't about to just hand it over. That was when his prankster senses started tingling and he got another hilarious idea to mess with his teammate. "How about this teme, we have a competition."

"What competition, what're you talking about dobe?"

"Let me finish and you'll know. We will have a race to see who can climb a tree fastest. If you win you get the photo, but if I win I get to have it printed out poster size, and you have to hand them out to your fan girls." Naruto couldn't help but let out a laugh at his teammates expression, and seeing it, Naruto had to add more on, "And, you have to personally sign all of them."

Sasuke just stared at him with his jaw hitting the ground, finally he started yelling back at his teammate, "What the hell dobe, how is that fair!? There's nothing in it for me if I win?!"

"Well duh teme, I have the photo, so I can make the terms of the bet… but if you feel it's unfair, I can give myself a handicap?" At this Sasuke was torn, he didn't know why Naruto had chosen to climb trees as their challenge, but he figured that it was just something that he was relatively fast at. He was torn though between taking the handicap to ensure victory but taking the hit to his pride, or turning down the offer, and risking the possibility of losing.

Finally after a minute of debating Sasuke concluded that losing the bet was too big of a risk, so he decided he'd let Naruto handicap himself. "Ok dobe, no hands on your part though, got it."

"Yeah sure, oh by the way just sign this." Sasuke looked at the blonde in confusion and then the sheet of paper he was now holding out. Sasuke was confused for a moment before he read through it, and it was basically a written form of their wager, Sasuke didn't think too much of it, because he knew he'd win so he just signed it.

"Ok dobe, let's do this, that photo is never getting out." Naruto just smirked at Sasuke as they both approached trees. Sasuke watched as Naruto created a clone to act as their starter. "On your marks… get set… GO!"

Sasuke lunged towards the tree, and made to jump up to one of the branches to pull himself up, he had smirked to himself when he noticed Naruto had ran at a tree without any low-hanging branches, sadly that smirk turned to horror as he watched his teammate just run straight up the tree. He was so shocked that he managed to fall off his branch and landed in a heap on the ground.

Naruto seeing Sasuke's plight couldn't help but yell out at his teammate, "Hey teme, I can't wait to see your fan girl's expressions when they get their posters!" This was it, as of now, Sasuke's life was over, he would never be able to escape his fan girls, and when he started handing out posters of himself… Sasuke felt a cold chill run down his spine. The only thing that kept him from trying to escape before Naruto made him live up to his end of their deal was wonderment at how his teammate had managed to do what he did.

Eventually after Naruto descended from the tree Sasuke managed to choke out a question, "H-how?"

Naruto just looked at him with confusion, "Seriously Sasuke, didn't you do any training since the academy, I mean tree climbing is one of the most basic chakra control exercises, I mean I thought you'd know it by now."

This was the final straw for the young avenger, _"The dobe is ahead of me…"_ Sasuke just took on this defeated look on his face, that actually managed to weird Naruto out, after a few minutes debating he decided not to force his teammate to start making good on their deal just yet, apparently losing their bet had shocked the Uchiha and he didn't seem like he was off in his own little world.

After another 10 minutes or so, Naruto finally gave in, "Ok Sasuke what's bugging you?" After a few more minutes of not getting a response, Naruto just sighed and walked off to work more on his Kenjutsu forms while casting the occasional worried glance at his teammate.

It was another half hour before Sakura arrived, after her talk with her father, and then the next day when she spoke with her sensei again, she decided that she had chosen to be a kunoichi, and that if nothing else she wanted to prove to herself that she had what it took to be as great a shinobi as anyone else. Her teacher had lectured her about having to change how she behaved with her team. It was difficult for her not to yell out to her Sasuke-kun when she saw him staring glumly at the ground, but she managed to control herself. Instead she just said hello, and continued on her way. Kakashi had told her that if she was going to insist on clinging onto her teammate than she would not be allowed back on the team.

Kakashi's other order was what was worrying her more now. She was currently walking towards the red and blonde haired member of her team. She was wary of approaching him, especially seeing as he was swinging around a katana. She took a moment to steel herself before speaking up.

"H-hello Naruto." Sakura watched as Naruto continued going through his forms, giving no indication of hearing her, she waited a moment before repeating herself louder, "Naruto." The aforementioned Uzumaki heard his teammate this time, and came out of his stances, sheathing his sword. It was slightly shocking to Sakura to see her teammate move with anything that could be considered grace.

"Oh, hey Sakura-san, what's up?" Naruto stared at her in confusion as the girl seemed to shrink under his stare, when finally she spoke up.

"I'm sorry…"

"What was that?"

"I am sorry Naruto, I am sorry for how I treated you. It wasn't fair of me, so I wanted to apologize, and I wanted to thank you for saving me on our last mission." Sakura hadn't been sure what to expect from her teammate, his reactions were difficult to predict, so when he shrugged, she almost let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry about it Sakura, you're one of my comrades. If you ever need help just let me know and I'll do what I can... As long as you don't start trying to smack me around anymore." With that Naruto resumed his sword work, and Sakura turned away and walked over to her other teammate. She was having a hard time holding back her urges to glomp him, but her sensei had been very clear what her acting like that would result in, so instead she settled with sitting next to him.

"What's wrong Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke just continued to stare at the ground. This was something Sakura had never seen before, if it wasn't for the fact that it was Sasuke she would have said he was sulking, but Sasuke didn't sulk, so something was going on. She shot a glance back at Naruto who was still practicing. "Come on Sasuke-kun, you can tell me, we're a team aren't we?" Sasuke continued to stare at the ground before him, when Sakura saw their sensei appear in a swirl of leaves behind him.

"Sakura, I'll talk to him, you head over to the training posts and work on your Kenjutsu, I'll be over in a minute, and I have a new training exercise for you all." Sakura shot another worried glance towards Sasuke and glanced between him and her sensei a few times before dropping her head and making her way towards the training posts. Kakashi was pleased with it, she was still obviously having a hard time controlling her impulses, but she was making progress. Kakashi would have been sad to lose one of the members of the first team that had managed to pass his test. After a brief eye smile at the thought of his students progressing he turned towards the sulking Uchiha.

"Ok Sasuke, what's going on?" Sasuke just continued to stare, but his eyes moved from the ground to his male teammate. "Sasuke, you can tell me freely, or I can order you to tell me, but I'd much rather you don't make me."

Sasuke turned his eyes back to the ground and started mumbling. "I don't get it…"

"Hm, what don't you get Sasuke?"

"How… how has Naruto gotten so much stronger?"

"Well he trains very hard Sasuke."

"It can't just be training? He found out some secret way to get more power, he couldn't have gotten so much stronger just doing a bit of training."

"Well Sasuke, I can't tell you everything, and it isn't even my place to tell you anything about Naruto, but I can tell you this. Since the academy, Naruto has spent almost every spare second of his time training, and he's been making rapid progress."

"No matter how hard he's been working, he shouldn't have made as much progress as he has!?" Sasuke almost sounded like he was pleading, "I mean, I was the rookie of the year, didn't that mean I was strongest, I was called a genius, shouldn't that make it easier for me to get stronger? Naruto was the dead last, the dobe of the class, he was pathetic, and now…" Sasuke cut off at that, he didn't want to continue that train of thought.

"Sasuke, are you frustrated with Naruto or yourself?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean are you upset with Naruto for improving so much, or are you upset that you haven't been improving as quickly?"

Sasuke cast a glare at his teacher before turning his eyes back to the ground, "I-I don't know, I'm an Uchiha, I'm supposed to be an elite, and the dobe… Why is he getting so much stronger, I have to get stronger, I need to avenge my clan, but the dobe doesn't have to avenge his clan, he doesn't have to live with the memories I have to live with… I have more reason to get stronger; I have a greater need for power. So why does he have it?"

Kakashi just stared down at his student, "Do you really think that Sasuke? Do you really think you're the only one who has reasons to get stronger? Do you really think you're the only one who has to live haunted by their traumatic past? I think you need to learn more about your teammates before you assume things like that. If you want to know how Naruto has been getting stronger ask him yourself."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he trudged along after his teacher. Kakashi called together all his genin before speaking again, "Ok team, I have told the Hokage that we're going to be taking another C-rank mission in three days, I haven't picked one yet, but it will probably take a few weeks whatever one I choose. Now for today I have a special lesson for you all, I actually hadn't planned on teaching you this yet, because it is a pretty difficult technique, but it is a very useful skill as shinobi."

Sakura was the first to speak up, "What is it sensei?"

"… Tree Climbing." Kakashi couldn't say anymore as his blonde student started laughing, and his black haired student started smacking his head against a tree. "What's wrong with you two?"

* * *

BAM, done chapter 12, I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it. I know it wasn't the most exciting and intense chapter, but I felt it was time for some major character development. I hope it didn't feel too forced to you guys. There is still a long way to go in the field of character development until I'm satisfied with where the characters are at, but don't worry I'm not going to hold the story back just to shove more in, I'm trying to keep their development natural, and believable. I know some of you might think Sasuke's sulking was OOC, but to me it fit there, because it was a reality he had to face that he didn't like.

There is going to be much excitement coming up in the next chapter, and I also wanted to mention that I'm going to be starting a 'photo album' of sorts on tumblr. It was going to be on my profile, but because fanfiction is stupporn about how many photos one can have and things like that I'll be posting them on tumblr. Due to Naruto's newly acquired camera, I am going to be having a lot of the photos he takes put up on the tumblr page. All of the photo's are original's drawn by a very good friend of mine, for the story, so I hope you check them out and let me know what you think of them. There are only going to be a few to start with, but their numbers will grow as more happens in the story. I really like the idea of having a visual to associate with the progress of the story so I hope you all will too. The first photo up will probably just be of Naruto, followed by the team 7 photo. The rest will be recognizable from the story. The link to the page is on my profile. I don't always plan on making a big deal of the photo like in today's chapter, but what happened in this chapter will not be forgotten, and I plan on having a lot of fun with this bet.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I'm excited for the next one, and I hope you all are too. So as always, please leave a review if you enjoyed it, or if you have some critiques for me. Seriously, reading reviews makes my writing the story all the more enjoyable for me, and the happier I am, the sooner the next chapter will be out. So please review and let me know what you think, or if you want you are always welcome to send me a PM. Also let me know what you think of the photos, I'll try and have at least one new one up with every chapter, but the speed that they're posted will depend on the person drawing them.

Anyhow, Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	13. Chapter 13 - Wounded Pride

Hey Everyone, sorry this chapter is late. I have had a bunch going on recently from an out of town bachelor party for a good friend. I've also been dealing with a lot of stuff with getting the student pub I run set up for the start of this coming semester. So I'm sorry that this chapter has been delayed. Enough about that though, because the chapter is at long last here. I am planning on getting the next two chapters out before the 15th, so look forward to that.

I'd also like to say thanks a bunch to everyone who left me reviews, sorry if I haven't responded to as many as I usually do, but as I've mentioned I have been busy. I really appreciate all the feedback, and I read everything that you guys tell me. Also I suggest you guys check out the link on my profile to see the photo album for my story, and let me know what you think of them. All the photos have a brief description with them as well so you know what the photo's are for.

I guess I should also mention that I still unfortunately do not own Naruto.

Anyhow, without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 13.

* * *

"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Wounded Pride**

Naruto stood in the training ground listening to his sensei's explanation for how to do the tree walking exercise. He waited till his teacher finished and set his teammates to start while Naruto just stood there. "What're you waiting for Naruto; you need to work on this exercise as well."

"Umm sensei, in case you forgot, I already know how to do tree walking." Kakashi sweat dropped at this as he looked towards the source of the excited giggling he had just heard. He turned to see Sakura already having completed the exercise, he hadn't been surprised, as he had assumed that she would have good chakra control, seeing how limited her reserves were.

"Good job Sakura, if you want you can practice it a few more times, but that is the lesson for today so don't stress yourself too much." Sakura smiled and nodded at this, she found it odd that Naruto hadn't tried to run up the tree, but what worried her more was how Sasuke had glared at her when she did it on her first try, _"No Sakura, you can't let Kakashi-sensei see you act this way, get to practicing, and then head home…"_

Naruto was still staring blankly at his teacher, "So sensei what do you want me to do?"

"Hehe, sorry Naruto I forgot you had already learned tree climbing… I guess I could send you to try water wal-"

"I know that one two sensei, and how to circulate chakra through by body purposefully to keep me warm if I need." Kakashi hearing this rubbed the back of his head, he mentally berated himself for forgetting that Naruto had been working on his chakra control. He stood there for a few moments trying to think of what he could have Naruto do when an idea came to him.

"Tell me Naruto, do you know how to detect and dispel genjutsu?" Naruto smiled at this, genjutsu was one of the areas he had never had any luck with, and apparently it was a trait shared by his whole clan. So any chance to learn how to deal with genjutsu was a chance he wouldn't pass up.

-With Sasuke-

"_Damn it, why is this so hard? Naruto and Sakura made it look so easy, how can I be having so much trouble with this."_ Sasuke was staring up at the tree he had been practicing tree walking on. The marks from the kunai his sensei had given him ran around an eigth of the way up the tree. He glared at the tree Sakura had been running up and still couldn't understand how she had managed to get it on her first try. He had been at it for hours and still hadn't gotten anywhere. Grunting again he ran towards the tree.

-With Naruto-

Naruto was sitting on the ground grumbling, he hadn't been having any luck detecting the genjutsu his sensei kept placing him under, it always took him far too long for him to recognize them. He was getting frustrated, and it wasn't something he could work on with his clones on his own. If he knew a few genjutsu he might be able to practice on his own, but he didn't so his only time to work on it was with Kakashi, and he wasn't making much progress.

Finally after another 2 failed attempts at recognizing genjutsu Kakashi started speaking again, "Well Naruto, it seems we've finally found your weakness, you apparently have no talent for genjutsu."

Naruto gritted his teeth at this and swallowed his retort; no matter what he did he couldn't detect the genjutsu, granted he'd only been at it for the past few hours, but he thought he'd of had some sort of idea how to go about it by now. Staring glumly at the ground he addressed his sensei, "Then what do I do sensei?"

"Well you can always still learn how to dispel the genjutsu."

"What good is that if I can't detect them?"

"Well maybe you'll get better at it later, but for now-"

"Wait sensei, couldn't I use a seal to detect the genjutsu?"

"A seal?"

"Yeah, I know I read something about detection seals in my family's scrolls, so couldn't I use one of those?" Hearing this worried Kakashi, detection seals were highly advanced fuinjutsu, and as much as he wanted to have faith in his student's abilities, he had only started studying fuinjutsu a few months ago.

"Naruto, what you're talking about his highly advanced fuinjutsu; I don't think you're ready to be doing that sort of thing yet." At this Naruto's face fell, he knew that he probably wasn't quite at the level he should be at to try the seals, but that sort of thing wasn't going to stop him, all that he could think about currently was how he could make that seal work.

"I can do it sensei, I've been getting way better at my seals recently, and I've even started making my own explosive tags." At this Kakashi's eye widened in horror, if there was one thing he was worried about his young and rather unpredictable student doing, it was creating a supply of explosives. Sadly his fears only increased as Naruto continued to speak, "But the funny thing is that they always feel warm, I think I might have made a mistake on the sealing matrix, but I don't know where." At this Naruto was holding out an explosive note towards his sensei, and Kakashi grabbed it out of his hands.

Immediately noticing the warmth, Kakashi began to panic, it was a common mistake when someone inexperienced would create explosive notes, it was exactly as his student thought, and it was leaking chakra, however, if Kakashi knew Naruto at all he was willing to bet that his student hadn't only made one of them, which meant he had a large supply of volatile explosives on him, "Naruto give me all the notes you've made."

Naruto noticing the rushed sound of his sensei's voice unsealed a rather large stack of the explosive tags and held them out towards his sensei. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto was somewhat surprised when his teacher used the technique, and almost argued with the grabbing all the explosives and running full speed towards the lake. Naruto's shock however skyrocketed as his sensei began running through a very complex series of handsigns, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" Naruto could only watch in awe as a giant dragon made of water launched itself out of the lake at the clone carrying all the explosive notes, but it was the second when the dragon collided with the clone that quite literally sent all the remaining members of team 7 in the training ground to the ground.

On the moment of impact, all the explosive notes went off, it had been Kakashi's intent to destroy them, but he had hoped his chakra wouldn't set them the tags off, but unfortunately it did. The explosion caused a huge amount of water to be sent off in all directions, and the fiery plume went up at least a hundred feet. Kakashi was torn between being impressed by the sheer destructive capability of the notes, and horror at the thought of what would have happened if they had gone off on a mission.

It took almost a minute for the ringing sound to leave Kakashi's ears, and eventually he looked over at his blonde and red haired student, who had a look torn between awe and worry on his face, he was about to speak when another voice sounded from the forest, "What was the hell was that?" Naruto and Kakashi looked over to see a rather haggard looking Sasuke leaning with one arm on a tree with a panicked look on his face, Kakashi seeing his state decided to address the Uchiha first, "I was just demonstrating to your teammate how dangerous it is to get ahead of oneself in their studies."

Sasuke just stared blankly from his sensei to his teammate with wonder, whatever had happened had sounded like a huge explosion, and the fact that the clearing was covered in water combined with the look on Naruto's face told him that his teammate had done something obscene, he wanted more details, but he was still struggling with getting over what had happened between him and Naruto earlier that day, so he ended up just shrugging his shoulder with a huff, "Sasuke, I'd recommend you head home, and get some rest for tonight, we're meeting back up again tomorrow for some more training, so get some rest tonight." Sasuke nodded at this and made his way off, he had a lot to work through tonight, and he wasn't even sure how to go about getting the answers he wanted, he could always demand that the civilian councillors who doted on him in hopes to gain his favour could shed some light on his teammates progress, but he doubted that they would know anything. It seemed like it would be up to him to find out everything he could about his mysterious teammate, and he would start by finding out anything he could on Naruto's clan.

-Back with Kakashi and Naruto-

Kakashi had spent the last few minutes lecturing Naruto on the dangers of faulty seal matrices, he had decided to go with being upset at his student for now, he'd be more rational later, but damn it that explosion had been massive. It was then that Kakashi felt a chakra spike, and turned to see the Hokage emerge from the forest in full combat gear with a full squad of ANBU on his heels. Naruto watched as his surrogate grandfather slowed down his approach and slowly walked up to them, when he addressed his sensei, "Hatake-san, what was the cause of that explosion, there is panic across the village; people are worried we are under attack… Report, what happened?"

Naruto hung his head hearing this and Kakashi spoke, "Well, I was discussing fuinjutsu with my student Uzumaki Naruto, when he revealed he had begun attempting to create explosive tags," Kakashi paused as he saw a worried look cross the Hokage's face, "he revealed to me that he had been having some troubles with them, which he claimed to believe was caused by their leaking chakra. Upon examination I saw that this was the case, and as such were highly dangerous, not to mention potentially volatile. I confiscated the stack of tags he had, and went to destroy them."

"If that's was what happened then what caused the explosion Hatake-san?"

"Well Hokage-sama, I assume what happened is that my chakra managed to fully destabilize the explosive tags, causing them all to detonate the instant my jutsu made contact. Resulting in the massive explosion you all no doubt heard. The water covering the clearing was also a result of the technique, but that is what happened Hokage-sama."

Naruto watched as his surrogate grandfather looked from his sensei to him, then back to Kakashi, then back to him, then back to Kakashi, and finally back to him before letting out a loud sigh, "Naruto…" Naruto just hung his head, he knew he was going to get yelled at again, he hated feeling like an idiot, he used to get it all the time, but he was different now, he was already giving himself a hard time for it, but he had asked his sensei about what was going on with his explosive tags to be safe. He had been trying to check if they were dangerous to him. Well he now had his answer, and he felt like an idiot for it.

"ANBU you are dismissed, it is obvious that this was just an accident."

The ANBU nodded at this but stopped when they heard another voice speak up, "It's a shame you all looked good in orange." Naruto hadn't known what had caused him to speak up, but he figured that no matter how mature he grew he would always have a bit of his pranking nature with him, so he grinned slightly seeing all the ANBU lose their footing.

"What'd you say brat?"

"Nothing ANBU-san, absolutely nothing." The Hokage chuckled at Naruto's antics and waved the ANBU off. Kakashi couldn't help but smirk slightly underneath his mask and wave comically as the squad of ANBU all disappeared in poofs of smoke. It was quiet for a moment before Sarutobi finally spoke.

"So Naruto, you have been dabbling with some of the more dangerous parts of fuinjutsu I see." He saw Naruto's head drop again, and regretted the tone he had used.

"I'm sorry Jiiji; I wanted to get someone's opinion on why my tags weren't working properly… I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble…" Naruto raised his head slightly to see the Hokage giving him a soft smile.

"Naruto you did nothing wrong, and while I'm sure Kakashi would have preferred you telling him you were going to try and make explosive tags, I am glad you brought it to his attention when you found out something wasn't quite right." Naruto felt relief at this, he hadn't wanted his surrogate grandfather to be upset with him, "However, Kakashi you should know better than to introduce a foreign chakra to unstable seal matrices…" The change in the Hokage's tone caused Kakashi to get a bit worried, "But seeing as no one was hurt I'll forget about this little incident. Are you done your training for the day Kakashi?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, I was discussing some things with Naruto, but after the last incident I think it would be a good idea to call it a day, Naruto Team 7 is meeting up again for some more training tomorrow, so be here the same time as always."

"Ok Kakashi-sensei, sorry about the explosion…"

"It's alright Naruto, next time you want to make explosive tags though, please ask me first and I'll help you with it."

"Really? Awesome, thanks Kakashi-sensei, next time my explosive tags will be perfect."

"I know they will, see you tomorrow Naruto, Hokage-sama." With that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving Naruto alone with the Hokage.

"Damn, I need to learn how to do that." The Hokage smirked at Naruto before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Well seeing as your done training for the day, how about you and I get something to eat I promised I'd have dinner with Konohamaru and I'm sure he'd be happy to see you there, he seems to have taken quite a liking to you."

"That'd be cool Jiiji; I can tell you all about my last mission, and all about my training."

-Later that Evening in the Uchiha Compound-

Sasuke was currently sitting in his clan's library; he had been trying to find out anything he could on his teammate's clan. Kakashi had told them once that the Uzumaki Clan had once been a powerful clan, and seeing as the Uchiha kept records on most of the other clans they had encountered he figured they might have something on his teammates clan. Every step he had taken into his clan's library had been a blow to his pride, his pushing himself further into the place to try and find out something that could explain how his idiot teammate could have gotten so much stronger.

What Sasuke hadn't expected was to find dozens and dozens of books on the Uzumaki Clan. The sheer amount of books would fill up a bookcase; he also didn't understand why almost all of them were stamped as property of the Konoha Archives. He had subdued his curiosity about that, but he still didn't get why his father would have had so much information on one other clan. He had started by skimming their titles and it had gotten even more confusing, there were books about the laws of some village known as Uzushiogakure, there was information on the royal family of Uzu no Kuni, there were 12 volumes of the Uzumaki Clan law, each penned by the clan head at the time.

Sasuke had hoped that he would find a book telling him if the Uzumaki Clan had any special powers that would explain his teammate's rapid improvement, but so far he hadn't found anything on that. He was worrying his search might be in vain. He was actually debating asking his idiot of a teammate about his clan, but he didn't know if his pride would ever recover from something like that. Sasuke just couldn't understand how his teammate had changed so much. The thing that upset the young Uchiha most though was how casually his teammate went about questioning what he had spent his three months doing. It just rubbed salt on the wound; he didn't know what he had been thinking with the light training he had done over their break. He had assumed that as soon as they got a Jōnin instructor, the man would just teach them dozens of jutsu, but here they were with the first actual thing their sensei was teaching them, and both of his teammates had already done it, not only that the one he had expected to hold them back the most had apparently completed the next training exercise as well.

-Training Ground 7 the Next Morning-

Naruto was making his way through the trees towards his teams designated training ground; he had upped his weights that morning and as such was struggling to move at a good speed. Stopping outside the clearing he sat down on a branch and took out some of his scrolls to read. He was going over different sealing matrices for explosive notes; he was planning to ask Kakashi for help with them later. Putting away his fuinjutsu scrolls Naruto decided to read through his BINGO book, and brush up on his knowledge of missing-nin.

It wasn't long after that Naruto was brought out of his readings by the sound of someone falling to the ground. Jumping over to the source of the sound Naruto found his teammate Sasuke picking himself up off the ground and making another run at a tree. Apparently he was still working on the tree climbing exercise, and judging from the state he was in he either hadn't gotten much sleep, or had woken up even earlier than Naruto to train himself.

Deciding to hold off on messing with his teammate Naruto sat down again to watch Sasuke attempt to run up the tree a few more times, when he heard the Uchiha muttering something that sounded like 'damned Uzumaki'.

Hearing this Naruto decided to let his presence be known, "What were you saying about my clan Uchiha?" Naruto's voice had caught Sasuke off guard causing him to lose concentration and once again fall off the tree, laughing at the sight Naruto jumped down from the branch he had been standing on, and landed next to Sasuke. "Good job there teme, you're really getting it."

Sasuke could hear the obvious sarcasm in his teammate's voice, and snapped back at him, "Shut up dobe, I have nothing to say to you." At this Naruto put on a hurt look before responding.

"But teme, what'd I do wrong?" Sasuke could tell that Naruto was just messing with him, and tried to reign in his temper and shut out his teammate, sadly for him after a few minutes of being ignored the blonde spoke again, "What's up with you teme, are you excited for our appointment with your fan girls, I've already dropped the photo off at the printers, I decided to have around a hundred printed up so we could hand them out before we leave on another C rank mission."

Sasuke's jaw dropped at this, seeing as he had completely forgotten about the wager he had lost. Trying to find a way out of it he turned back to his teammate, "We're doing no such thing dobe; you can't actually expect me to hand out autographed posters just because I signed some piece of paper?"

Naruto could of course hear the indignation in his teammates voice, and debated taking out his camera to capture the Uchiha's face when he dropped the next bomb on him, "Actually Uchiha, I can. You see after training yesterday I met up with the Hokage for dinner, and Jiiji signed off on the agreement you signed, so you don't have a choice about it." Naruto smirked at the horrified look on his teammates face, and laughed maniacally for a few minutes.

"Don't worry Uchiha, it'll just be a quick trip to your fan clubs clubhouse, and then you'll be free to go." Sasuke's horrified look changed to one of abject terror as he imagined walking into the lair of his fan girls.

-Across the Village-

At the same time Naruto was having his conversation with Sasuke, a certain blonde and red haired clone was sneaking into the Yamanaka Clan's home. After a brief look around the property the clone entered through one of the windows on the second floor, and found himself in the room of one Yamanaka Ino. Grinning beneath his mask at his own success, the clone placed a package on the young kunoichi's nightstand before dispelling itself.

-Back with Naruto-

Naruto had to hold back a cheer upon learning that his clone had completed its mission. He had ordered his clone to inform the Yamanaka heiress of what would be happening that afternoon so that she would have time to gather as many Uchiha fan girls as possible. If he had known the time of their monthly meeting he wouldn't have needed to use the gossip queen of Konoha, but he knew that once Ino found out what would be happening word would quickly spread.

Naruto walked away from his defeated teammate and sat against a tree pulling another book out of one of his sealing scrolls. He was skimming through the books and thinking about how ingenious his plan was. He had initially planned on just having Sasuke help him hand out the posters, but after hearing it would cost him 500 ryo for each full size poster he decided that it would be far better to have the fan girls buy the signed posters for 2000 ryo a piece. Naruto had never placed too much value on money, but when he realized what a golden opportunity this was he couldn't resist.

Above all he couldn't wait to see Sasuke's face as he charged the fan girls for the posters, imagining the face his teammate would make proved to be too much for Naruto and he burst out laughing again. "DAMNIT DOBE, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Naruto looked back towards his teammate to see he had apparently fallen from the tree again. Deciding against laughing at the Uchiha's misfortune Naruto decided he'd offer his teammate some advice. "Teme, you want some advice?"

Sasuke turned and glared at the blonde and didn't answer, seeing his stubborn behaviour Naruto just shrugged and got back to his reading. Overall the day wasn't particularly, after Kakashi and Sakura arrived, Kakashi took them on a simple D rank mission to work on their teamwork. The mission was the standard fair for D rank missions; they were required to chop lumber at a farm on the outskirts of Konoha. Once the mission was completed, Kakashi bid farewell to his team and told them that they'd be going on a C rank mission the next day. This news was well received by Naruto and Sasuke, while Sakura seemed nervous.

Noticing that it was surprisingly early still Naruto decided that he'd head back to the training ground with Sasuke. After around half an hour of reading and chuckling as his teammate fell out of trees Sasuke finally lost his temper, "What the hell dobe, why are you still here?"

"Well Sasuke, I thought it would be obvious, I don't have a whole lot to do until our appointment with you fan club so I figured I'd just wait around."

Sasuke glared up at his teammate, "Then why aren't you training dobe, trying to gloat that you've already got this stupid tree walking thing done."

"Umm, why would I gloat Uchiha, I already offered to help you. If I wanted to gloat I'd teach your fan girls to do it, then you'd never be able to get away from them." Hearing this Sasuke couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the hordes of girls running up walls, he had to agree that he'd be hard pressed to ever escape from them again.

Turning away from his teammate Naruto pulled out another book when he felt one of the clones he had running errands pop. Apparently the clone had seen Team 8 return from a mission, which meant Naruto, would have a chance to catch up with Shino before he left the village again for another potentially long mission. He'd have to remember to find Shino after his teammate's unfortunate afternoon.

Another hour passed before Naruto heard his teammate address him, "What are you even reading dobe?" Naruto closed the book again and threw it down to his teammate. Reaching up, Sasuke caught the book out of the air, "_The Rise and Fall of Uzushiogakure_" Sasuke was surprised by the book, after all he hadn't expected his classes dobe to be reading up on history of some old village. "What're you reading this for dobe, doesn't seem that interesting." Sasuke was rather surprised at the reaction of his teammate.

Naruto launched himself out of the tree at Sasuke and grabbed the book out of his hand, "It's one of the only books I could find that talks about my clan teme… It's all I have to know them by… so I'll keep reading it till I've memorized every damn line in it." Sasuke much to his own surprise actually felt sympathy for his teammate. He knew exactly what it was like to lose his clan, and in his moment of sympathy he thought of all the books on the Uzumaki Clan he seemed to have for some reason.

"I have some stuff on your clan." Sasuke didn't know why exactly he told his teammate, but for some reason he couldn't help but feel guilty over it, at least he knew all about his clan.

"What? How? Why?" Naruto stopped almost immediately when he realized what it meant. He remembered the time he lost his temper with his teammate on the day of their team selection, he had snapped at the Uchiha because he learnt that his father had gotten rid of almost everything on the Uzumaki clan, and hearing Sasuke say he had them meant that the man never destroyed them, but just hid them. It took all of Naruto's will to not snap at his teammate. "Uchiha, give me the books."

Sasuke was surprised by his teammates turn from being seemingly happy to sounding angry and couldn't help but ask about it, "What's up with you dobe, why're you so pissed." Naruto struggled to control himself, he knew he shouldn't be directing his anger at Sasuke, but it wasn't like his father was alive to direct his anger at, so he took a few minutes to calm himself down, he knew he'd probably have to negotiate with his teammate to get the books, and he couldn't afford to snap, otherwise Sasuke would probably just blow him off and refuse to let him see the books.

"Sorry, I get kind of tense when it comes to my clan, could I have the books on them please?" Sasuke had watched his teammate as he struggled to reign in his temper and was still confused by it, but realized he now had a bargaining chip, and he knew what he was willing to trade the books for.

"Well then Uzumaki, it seems like I have something you want. I can't just give them to you though, so I propose a trade."

"Oh really, and what trade would this be?"

"I'll give you the books, if you destroy that agreement that says I have to go through with this afternoon." Sasuke went pale just imagining having to walk into the lair of his fan girls, and figured if anything would get him out of it, this could be it. Naruto on the other hand was torn, he had a chance to get books on his clan, and learn more about them, but he'd have to give up his prank, he thought for a moment before he came up with what he thought would be a way to get both things he wanted.

"I can't just tear up the agreement Uchiha, it's a legally binding document of Konoha, and it has the Hokage's seal on it." Sasuke went pale at this, but Naruto continued, "But I can keep your fan girls away from you during it, and help keep them away and I'll give you a hint that'll help you with the tree walking exercise."

Naruto was rather proud of his negotiating; he would probably just make a bunch of clones to guard Sasuke from the fan girls as he collected the money for the posters. It wouldn't be too much work. Sasuke on the other hand was worried. He had thought that his offer would get him out of his current predicament, but he knew that if the agreement had been signed by the Hokage then they could get in serious trouble for destroying it, but he also wasn't particularly confident in Naruto's ability to keep the fan girls away.

"How are you going to keep them away from me dobe?"

Naruto smirked at this and went through handsigns quickly, "Like this, Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto's smirk grew wider underneath his mask as Sasuke's jaw dropped at the sight of several hundred Naruto clones puffing into existence. "Will this be enough security teme?"

Sasuke didn't know what to say and could only stare, he'd seen Naruto create the solid clones before, but never that many of them, and it just seemed ridiculous to him that anyone could create an army of themselves. The sight brought on another of Sasuke's internal arguments, he was torn between having to once again admit that his teammate wasn't useless or weak like he thought, and frustrated that he didn't have the power to do it. In the end though Sasuke knew that if he wasn't able to get out of going into the lair of the fan girls then he'd prefer to at least have an army guarding him. "Ok dobe, you've got a deal, now what's the secret behind the tree walking?"

Naruto congratulated himself at his successful negotiations and turned to his teammate, "Lie down and put your feet up to the tree and channel chakra into them. The trick is to find your comfort zone, if you use too much chakra you can sort of feel the heat of it in your feet, and if you use to little your feet will just sort of feel tingly and slip down the stump, so just find your comfort zone, it'll make it a whole lot easier."

Sasuke stared incredulously at his teammate, "Seriously, find my comfort zone?"

"Hey you asked for the hint, that's it, it's up to you if you want to use it."

-Some Hours Later in the Lair of the Fan girls-

Sasuke was currently sitting behind a desk with a rather imposing stack of posters in front of him. He couldn't help but glare at the image of his blushing face, he didn't know how or when, but he was going to get back at Naruto for forcing him into this. He and Naruto had arrived slightly before any of the fan girls, and Naruto already had a table set up and waiting for them. He looked over to his side and saw Naruto holding a money box, and couldn't help but wonder why he had it, and then he saw Naruto put a sign in front of them, "_Autographed Posters, 2000 Ryo_" Sasuke's head dropped reading this, leave it to the village's infamous prankster to make money off his misfortune, oh yes, someday he would get Naruto back for this.

Unfortunately his thoughts were disturbed by the sound of a high pitched scream and he turned in horror to see his fan girls pouring into the room. He nearly bolted right then when he felt Naruto grab his arm, then make a handsign. The room was suddenly lined with Naruto clones, with something like 40 standing guard around the table. Seeing the clones move in to stop the fan girls from getting too close he sighed with a bit of relief.

Naruto looked at the growing mass of fan girls and couldn't help but smirk again, oh yeah he was going to make a killing today.

-With Sakura-

Sakura was currently lying on her bed at home, she had been having a hard time dealing with her disappointment of how the day had gone, she had had team training, and a mission, both of which went well. Then they heard that they were going on another C rank mission tomorrow which had her worried, and to top it all off, she had gotten a message from Ino telling her that her precious Sasuke-kun would be signing autographed posters of himself at fan club headquarters today. She nearly cried at her misfortune, she normally would have gone in a heartbeat but still remembering the lecture from her sensei she restrained herself, she knew that if her sensei found out she had been acting like a fan girl she would be kicked off of team 7, and she wasn't going to lose her place as a kunoichi, so she resolved to pack for their mission, and then get a good night's sleep.

-With Naruto and Sasuke-

It had taken a grand total of two hours to sign and sell all the posters, Naruto had only had a few incidents with people trying to get through his clones, but after he removed the offending fan girls from the building, without their posters everyone else seemed to understand not to mess with the clones.

Sasuke however was getting more and more worried, as many posters as Naruto had printed, the line of fan girls never seemed to end. What was worse was that Naruto wasn't going to let him leave till all the posters were gone. He at least was thankful that Naruto wasn't taking the bribes from several of the fan girls to get closer to him.

Unfortunately all hell was about to break loose as Sasuke signed the last poster and it was given to another girl, when she decided to yell out that she had gotten the last one. The room had gone silent, and both Naruto and Sasuke suddenly got very worried. There was a brief moment of silence before cries of 'Sasuke-kun' could be heard all throughout the room. As if they were a single entity, the horde of girls rushed towards the table where Sasuke and Naruto were, and were barely held back by the wall of clones. "Well Uchiha, I think it's time we take our leave." Sasuke didn't even bother to reply as he jumped up behind Naruto and started running after the blonde around the perimeter of the room, where Naruto still had clones stationed. The two boys managed to burst out of the building to see a horrifying sight, there were even more fan girls standing outside the building, and as soon as they saw Sasuke, they charged.

Fearing for his life Sasuke took off; Naruto was surprised at how fast the raven haired boy was moving, and worked to catch up. After a few minutes though Naruto noticed that the horde seemed to be surrounding them, and unfortunately for Sasuke they managed to hear them into a dead end. Naruto had to suppress a laugh seeing the look of horror on his teammates face, "Hurry up teme, unless you want to get caught we've got to go."

"Where are we supposed to go, we're cornered?" Sasuke's voice was full of panic, and Naruto couldn't really blame him seeing the look of horror in his teammate's eyes.

"Damn it teme, we're going up the wall." With that Naruto took off up the wall. Sasuke managed to get control of him and ran towards the wall as well. He hadn't managed to master the technique yet, but he had actually found Naruto's tip to be surprisingly helpful. As the two ran up the wall they could hear the cries of protest from the horde. Naruto had nearly reached the top when he heard a shout of surprise from Sasuke, and he turned to see Sasuke had slipped and was starting to fall. Naruto was torn between letting his teammate fall into the hands of the horde.

Sasuke was convinced that his life was over, he had never seen this many fangirls after him, and now he was falling straight into their arms. It was a bitter moment for Sasuke as he resigned himself to his fate, but thankfully for him, he felt a hand grip his wrist, and saw Naruto had managed to grab a hold of him, with a show of strength, Naruto tossed the Uchiha the rest of the way up the building and ran up after him.

Naruto arrived on the roof to see a panting Uchiha, "T-thanks." When Naruto heard that he was shocked, he never suspected that Sasuke would thank him for anything.

"No problem, I may screw around a bunch, but I wasn't about to be an ass and leave you to your doom, after all doesn't Kakashi-sensei say those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

Sasuke only nodded dumbly thanking kami that he hadn't fallen into the hands of the horde, "Now then, how about those books?"

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BAM, done chapter 13. I hope you guys enjoyed it, cause I thought it was a fun chapter. I am sorry I couldn't fit Hinata in this chapter, I had planned on having her in it briefly, but unfortunately the chapter went on longer than I had thought so I couldn't fit her in here. I hope you guys enjoyed the humor in this chapter, and I'm hoping you guys liked all the character development. It's been a while in the making but I have finally managed to get some major character development with team 7. Also in case you guys are worried don't worry Sasuke and Naruto aren't about to become friends or anything, but I felt that this chapter provided me with a lot of opportunities to help the characters along, so that they at least aren't so confrontational.

I'd like to remind you guys about the photo album for my story. The link in on my profile because fanfic doesn't like me trying to put links in my chapters, so please check it out and let me know what you think about the pictures. As I mentioned I'm planning on having out 2 more chapters within the week, so look forward to that, because things are about to get more exciting.

Also as a final request, please leave a review if you enjoyed it, I know I always say it, but it makes my task as an author all the more rewarding to hear what you think of the chapters, so please review and let me know what you thought.

Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	14. Chapter 14 - Onwards to Nami

Hey Everyone, I told you I'd have the next couple of chapters out quickly, and I'm a man of my word. I am actually surprised with how quickly I got this one written, so I'm hoping you like it. I wanted to suggest again that you all check out the link on my profile to the photos of my story. I would love to know what you guys think of them. Also I wanted to mention, I recently hit 500 favourites for my story, and I know that isn't really a huge amount compared to some stories I've read, but I wanted to say thank you all so much for the support you've all given me, and I hope that you all know how much I appreciate it, and I hope you'll all continue to support my writing.

Once again I'd like to ask everyone to please review, the more reviews I get the more motivated I am to write. So please don't make me beg more than I already am. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and so I hope you all enjoy it too, some of you were disappointed with the lack of action in the last chapter, and I am hoping you're pleased with this one. Let me know what you think of it, because I want to be writing the best story I can. Just so you all know, Kishimoto still owns Naruto.

Anyhow without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 14.

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"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking/Inner Sakura

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**Chapter 14 – Onwards to Nami**

Naruto had been searching around the village for half an hour before he found Team 8, they were apparently talking about their mission in training ground 14, and seeing this, Naruto decided to wait for them to finish. After the fiasco with Sasuke he had passed by the Uchiha Compound and grabbed several dozen books. He was rather surprised by how many books Sasuke had on his clan but he assumed that if the Uchiha's had purged the Archives and Libraries of everything on his clan then it really shouldn't have been so surprising.

Naruto made his way into a tree to wait for the team's meeting to finish, so he decided to start reading up on his clan. After a few minutes Naruto started to feel like he was being watched, he had never really understood why he felt like that at times. When he was a little younger he always thought it was because he was aware of the way the villagers glared at him, but recently he had only noticed that it wasn't exactly the same. Pushing aside his queries for now he got back to reading, only to be disturbed by a faint buzzing sound. Sighing Naruto sealed the book away again and saw several of Shino's Kikaichū flying around him.

He watched for a few moments as the beetles flew in circles before his eyes. He was debating starting reading again when he heard Shino's voice below him, "Naruto-san, what may I ask are you doing here?" Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto dropped down from the branch and landed in front of Shino.

"Hey Shino, I just saw you were back from a mission, so I figured we could catch up and stuff." Shino looked at him oddly for a moment before nodding slowly.

"That would be acceptable." Naruto let out an audible sigh at this.

"Would it kill you to sound a bit more enthusiastic Shino?"

"… Most likely not." Naruto's head dropped again at this, no matter how good friends he became with Shino he doubted he'd ever be able to break the Aburame of his stoicism. Surprisingly though, Shino suddenly spoke up, "Hinata-san, why are you standing behind the tree, you are more than welcome to join us."

Naruto turned at this, he hadn't noticed Hinata had been there, "Hey Hinata, come on over, Shino and I were just going to be talking about what we've been up to."

Moving slowly the Hyūga Heiress slowly made her way around the tree, her face was beet red from being discovered, but she knew she wouldn't be able to hide after Shino called her out, "I d-don't want t-t-to inter-rupt." Naruto of course being Naruto though wasn't going to just let it go.

"You're not interrupting anything Hinata, come on we're just talking."

Hinata glanced up at Naruto quickly before dropping her head back down, and then looked questioningly towards Shino who slowly nodded as if to encourage her. "I-if you d-d-don't m-mind." Naruto smiled underneath his mask at this.

The group talked for around an hour, or more accurately Naruto talked with Shino making a few pointed remarks and Hinata only giving responses to direct questions. Eventually though, Naruto had caught both Shino and Hinata up on his last mission as well as how he tricked Sasuke into losing the bet that led to the events earlier that day. Hearing about the bet and how he tricked Sasuke, Shino nodded his head stating that it was a well-executed plan, Hinata actually giggled hearing what Naruto had done.

Naruto was caught off guard by Hinata's laugh; in all the years they had gone to the academy together he had never heard her laugh. He decided that he liked the way her laugh sounded, "Hey Hinata, you should laugh more often, you have a nice laugh."

Hearing this Hinata's reaction was instantaneous, "_N-N-Naruto-k-kun l-likes my l-l-laugh?_" The young Hyūga turned a brilliant shade of red and fought with herself to stay conscious. "_N-no Hinata, n-no f-f-fainting n-now, you're a-actually t-talking w-with N-Naruto-k-kun._" She wasn't sure how, but Hinata somehow managed to keep her elation from taking her out, and started tasking herself with calming herself down.

Naruto on the other hand just watched with a confused expression as Hinata turned red and looked like she was having an argument with herself. He turned to Shino with a questioning look, and Shino shrugged in reply, "Well anyways, Kakashi-sensei offered to help me with genjutsu, because I'm awful at it. We spent hours working on it and I didn't get anywhere, and after what happened with my explosive tags, I think Kakashi-sensei forgot he said he'd help me work on it."

"I see. That is unfortunate. I suggest you remind your sensei of his obligations Naruto-san. It is not good to be completely defenseless against something like genjutsu."

"Yeah, you're right Shino, I doubt Kakashi-sensei would ever remember working on it with me on his own."

"U-umm N-Naruto-k-kun…" Naruto turned towards Hinata hearing her speak.

"Yeah?"

"K-Kurenai-sensei is good at g-genjutsu."

Naruto stared at Hinata confusedly, and then looked to Shino for clarification. "I think what Hinata is implying is that if need be you could ask Kurenai-sensei for assistance." Hearing this Naruto turned back to Hinata.

"Would she help me with it, I mean not a lot of people like me very much, so I don't really know if she'd be willing to help." Naruto's voice had dropped from excited to reserved as he spoke. He didn't really want to get into why most people in the village didn't like him, and he'd never met Hinata and Shino's sensei before, so for all he knew she could be like the majority of the other villagers.

"Kurenai-s-sensei would help you N-Naruto-k-kun." Naruto wasn't completely reassured with this though and looked towards Shino for his opinion.

Seeing his look of worry Shino spoke, "I can't see a reason why sensei would not assist you, after all she is Konohagakure's Genjutsu Mistress."

Naruto felt slightly reassured, but still wasn't convinced. "I-if you w-want, I could t-t-talk to s-sensei for you N-Naruto-kun."

"Really?" Naruto watched as Hinata nodded, and a smile spread across his face. "Thanks Hinata, you're the best."

Being complicated by her crush was too much for Hinata, and once again she turned beet red, unfortunately it got worse for her from there because Naruto noticed her change in colour. "Hey Hinata, are you feeling ok, you're really red?" As he spoke Naruto reached over and placed his hand across her forehead.

If being complimented wasn't enough, the physical contact drove the young girl over the edge, "_N-Naruto-kun is t-touching me!_" With that as her final thought Hinata lost consciousness with a smile across her face. Completely unprepared for her reaction Naruto turned to Shino in worry, "Shino, what's going on, is Hinata ok?"

Observing the course of events Shino slowly adjusted his glasses before turning to his loud comrade, "Naruto-san… sometimes… you can be an idiot."

-Next Morning with Team 7-

Naruto was waiting outside the mission assignment room for his team; he hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night, because he had been excited about going on their next C rank mission. It was getting near 9 when he saw Sakura coming down the hallway, he had been surprised that she hadn't shown up at the poster signing the day before, but he hoped it could be a sign she was getting over her fan girl tendencies. "Hey Sakura, what's up?"

Sakura wasn't having the best of mornings, she had forced herself to eat breakfast, because her father had started lecturing her on eating properly, and due to her history of dieting, eating a large breakfast for the first time in years was making her feel off. It wasn't bad, but it was unusual, but that combined with how she missed the biggest event ever for Sasuke's fan club according to Ino, she was kind of down. She managed a half-hearted wave to Naruto and slumped down next to the wall.

Seeing his teammate feeling down Naruto approached Sakura and sat on the far side of the bench, "What's going on Sakura is everything alright?" Sakura looked up and grumbled something about Kakashi and her father before dropping her head back down. "What did Kakashi-sensei and your dad do?"

Feeling frustrated, Sakura nearly lashed out at Naruto before remembering what happened the last time she had hit him, as well as how they had been getting along a little better ever since she had apologized to him. "It's not important Naruto, so don't worry about it."

Naruto wasn't convinced, but he decided he'd let the issue rest for now, he was going over the sealing matrices on his new set of explosive tags, and was hoping Kakashi would approve of them, he'd fixed the issue that was causing them to leak chakra, so the tags seemed stable. It wasn't long after that when Sasuke appeared making his way down the hall.

Sasuke was staring straight ahead of himself and saw his teammates sitting on one of the benches outside the mission assignment office. Obviously their sensei wasn't there yet, so he made his way up to them and leaned against the opposite wall.

Naruto seeing Sasuke start leaning against the wall decided to great him, "Uchiha."

"Uzumaki."

"Made any progress with the tree-walking?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Found what you were looking for in the books?"

"Still reading through them."

"…"

Sakura was shocked to hear her teammates conversation, she was used to the two male members of her team arguing, or if and when they spoke; they always seemed to be trying to get a reaction from the other. To watch them just have a conversation was rather unnerving to the young kunoichi.

The group fell silent after that, as usual Kakashi took another hour to arrive.

"You're late again sensei."

"Hmm, sorry about that guys, I accidently pulled my headband down over both of my eyes and I didn't notice till I was outside the village."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all just sighed at this, they were used to their sensei's antics by now, and as much as they wished it, they doubted he'd ever change his habit of being late.

"Ok team, let's go get our mission." With that Kakashi led them through the doors into the mission office.

As usual the Hokage was sitting behind one of the desks in the mission assignment office, as was Iruka-sensei. Seeing both of them Naruto spoke up, "Hey Jiiji, hey Iruka-sensei." Sakura once again nearly snapped at Naruto for being disrespectful to the Hokage when the man in question spoke up.

"Ah good morning Naruto, I assume you're team is here for a mission."

Naruto nodded at his surrogate grandfather, and Kakashi stepped forward, "Good morning Hokage-sama, I'd like to request a C rank mission for Team 7."

Iruka was tempted to speak out against this, but Naruto had told him about their last C rank mission, so he figured they should be able to handle it, he did however make a note to speak to Kakashi later about not rushing them into dangerous situations.

"Alright, let's see what we have here… How does an escort mission sound?"

Kakashi looked back at his team and saw all of his genin nod, "That seems good Hokage-sama."

"Excellent, you'll be escorting Tazuna the bridge builder back to his home in Nami no Kuni, he was apparently worried about bandits on the road, so it shouldn't be too much trouble. You're mission is to escort him home and ensure his safety while he completes his work. I take it that won't be an issue."

"Of course not Hokage-sama."

Nodding at this, the Hokage called out to his secretary, "Alright then, Chizura-san please send in Tazuna-san."

Turning to face the doorway Naruto and his team watched as Tazuna walked into the room, he was notably tan, with grey spiked hair and a rope tied around his head. However the most notable thing about the man was the smell of alcohol "Is this some kind of joke? I thought I was hiring shinobi to protect me, not a bunch of brats. They all look pretty useless, especially that girl with pink hair, are you even allowed to be a ninja with pink hair?" Naruto and Sasuke were irked that the man questioned their talents, but both of them kept their temper.

Sakura on the other hand wasn't having very much luck with controlling her temper, "What did you say you old drunk? I'll get you!". "_**Yeah teach him a lesson, SHĀNNARŌ!**_" Losing her head temporarily Sasuke made to charge at Tazuna, only to be caught immediately by her sensei.

"Sakura, no attacking the clients." Grumbling to herself Sakura decided she'd ignore their client if she didn't have to deal with him. She really didn't want to have to deal with a rude and insulting client.

"Anyhow, I am Tazuna. The legendary bridge builder… Until I am safely back in my own country, where I'll be completing my next bridge, you'll all be expected to protect me… even if it costs you your lives." Naruto watched as the self-proclaimed legendary bridge builder finished his speech and took a long drink from the large bottle of sake he was carrying. Naruto couldn't help but think that this mission was going to be far more trouble than it was worth.

Kakashi released Sakura from his hold and turned to his team, "Alright guys, we're going to leave in half an hour, so meet up at the main gate then, make sure you have everything you'll need for a week or two."

-Back at Naruto's Apartment-

Naruto was going through his equipment again just to make sure he had everything he needed, feeling another of his clones dispel, he walked into his kitchen and started eating the food his clone had just made. Once again Naruto thanked Kami that he had learned to cook, as amazing as ramen was, he felt a bit of pride whenever he ate anything he cooked, each dish was a little accomplishment, and seeing as he'd probably be eating mission rations for the next few days at least he figured he'd get a good meal in when he could.

Looking over his apartment again he checked if there was anything else that he had forgotten or needed. He always carried his important stuff on his person nowadays; he had had too many break-ins and robberies in the past to trust his home to remain untouched. As always he had his families scroll on him, as well as a scroll carrying all his equipment for setting up camp, and another for food. On top of those he also had started carrying around another scroll that he kept his money in, a scroll he would use to carry anything interesting or useful he could find on the mission, and one more just to be safe.

He made his way outside and sealed back up the door, he still had a clone or two running around the village, but they had their own mission right now. He had come up with a way to get back at Kakashi for what happened in their last C rank mission, and he figured that with the time they'd be away from the village he could set the wheels in motion and have his sensei as an alibi, so he wouldn't ever be suspected.

Laughing to himself Naruto jumped over the railing and dropped down to the street.

-At the Village Gate-

After Team 7 and Tazuna met up again they made their way out of the village, all in all there wasn't much discussion, and for a while the only sound the group heard was their feet along the road and the sound Tazuna guzzling down large quantities of sake. After a while Sakura finally spoke up, "Kakashi-sensei aren't there any shinobi in Nami?"

Looking at his student Kakashi realized that Sakura might be worried about running into shinobi on the mission, so he decided to put her fears to rest. "No there are no Shinobi in the Nami no Kuni, most nations tend to have their own hidden villages, but for a relatively small island nation like Nami, they don't really have a need for their own shinobi."

Hearing this Sakura nodded, "Also you don't have to worry, we aren't going to be running into any foreign shinobi Sakura, any missions that have us dealing with foreign shinobi are at least B rank, so you don't have to worry."

At this Sakura was relieved, she really had not wanted to have a run in with other shinobi so soon after the last mission where her team had needed to fight all the bandits.

Unfortunately it was not long after that when Kakashi noticed a puddle sitting in the middle of the road, he normally wouldn't have noticed something like that, but seeing as it hadn't rained for over a week it was highly suspicious. He saw Sasuke glance at it briefly before shaking his head and looking back ahead, but neither Naruto nor Sakura seemed to notice it. Though looking at Naruto he wasn't really surprised seeing as the blonde and red haired boy had unsealed a book from a scroll and had started reading it.

Naruto was currently looking through one of the books on the Uzumaki Clan laws, it was the third rendition of the laws, and there wasn't very much variation between one edition and the next. He was flipping through another page when he saw two figures appear on both sides of Kakashi with a long spiked chain strung between them.

"One."

Naruto watched as Kakashi was seemingly ripped to shreds. In less than a heartbeat Naruto had dropped the book, and jumped backwards. The pair of shinobi had lunged towards them, and he wanted to ensure he was out of the range of their chains. Naruto observed as Sasuke quickly jumped over the pair and tossed a kunai, pinning the chains to the ground.

With a burst of speed Naruto launched himself back into the fight, aiming to take down the first of the two attackers while he was still stuck. Thinking quickly Naruto remembered seeing the pair of ninja who were attacking them in his BINGO book, he couldn't remember their names, but he knew from their hitai-ate that they were missing-nin from Kirigakure. He was nearly upon the Kiri-nin when the man detached the chain from his gauntlet and swiped at Naruto. Seeing the attack, Naruto quickly rolled to the side and slashed at the shinobi again, "Damn it, Gōzu, kill the bridge builder!"

Thankfully though, Sasuke was holding off Gōzu, so Naruto only had to deal with the Meizu for now. As soon as he heard the name however, Naruto knew who the pair was. They were known as the Demon Brothers; they had apparently fled Kirigakure years ago with another shinobi, and were still at large. Doubling his efforts, Naruto launched himself with even more intensity at his opponent. Channeling chakra through his limbs he empowered his sword strikes, but for each strike he made, Meizu seemed to be able to match them.

Making another downward slash, Meizu countered pushing charka through his gauntlet. Naruto wasn't prepared to see the gauntlet shatter his blade, and barely avoided the man gouging out a chunk of his chest.

Sasuke's fight wasn't going much better, he didn't know what Kakashi was up too, seeing all the logs lying around on the ground he knew that his sensei had used kawarimi no jutsu to get away without harm, but he still didn't get why Kakashi hadn't shown up. It didn't take long for Sasuke to come to the conclusion that Kakashi wanted to see how they would handle themselves in combat. Gritting his teeth he called out to his teammate, "You dead yet dobe?"

"Not a chance teme."

Smirking Sasuke glanced towards Sakura who though trembling was standing guard in front of Tazuna.

Naruto had also glanced quickly towards their third teammate after he heard Sasuke, he was cursing himself for not checking on their client earlier, but thankfully Sakura was guarding him. Dodging another swipe Naruto decided to switch his tactics, he had lost his sword, but he had been training with Gai for a while on now, and even if he couldn't use his clan's taijutsu style here, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

As Meizu made another swipe at him, Naruto quickly twisted his body and grabbed onto the man's wrist. He used this as a pivot, allowing him to flip over the surprised missing-nin's back and deliver a chakra enhanced smash to the back of his neck. Needless to say Meizu was completely unprepared for something like that, and he was sent crashing to the ground. Capitalizing on his advantage, Naruto quickly summoned a kunai from each of his gloves, and launched them after him, hitting his mark. The kunai embedded themselves deep into the arms of the downed nin rendering his arms useless. Hearing the cry of pain, Naruto preformed another chop to the back of the man's neck, this time knocking him out.

Turning around he saw Sasuke manage to land a kick on Gōzu's face, sending him towards where Naruto now was standing. Smirking, Naruto channelled chakra through his arm, and delivered a devastating elbow jab into the unprotected back of his opponent. Immediately following Naruto's hit, Sasuke lunged forward and landed a solid hit to Gōzu's throat, causing the man to black out from the pain, and potentially crushing his windpipe.

All in all the fight only lasted a minute or two, smirking and feeling rather proud Naruto spoke up, "And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you take down a couple missing-nin!" Sakura and Tazuna just gaped at Naruto's pronouncement, while Sasuke smirked, he was upset with Naruto interfering with his fight, but in the end they had managed to take down two enemy shinobi on their own, and that had to say something about their skill.

Apparently their sensei agreed with them seeing as he emerged from the surrounding trees clapping. "Good job guys, I'm surprised I thought that I was going to need to step in to save at least one of you. I have to say I'm quite proud of how well you worked together, and Sakura, good job guarding the client, I know that you must have been worried, but I'm proud that you managed to keep a level head. Good job."

Kakashi's eye smile dropped to a look of seriousness when he turned to Tazuna though, "You however have some explaining to do."

Tazuna became notably flustered, "Wh-What are you talking about?"

"Those two shinobi were both chūnin level shinobi from Kirigakure. It is obvious to me that they were waiting for us."

Looking confused Tazuna responded, "What do you mean?"

"Well Tazuna, I found the large puddle in the middle of the road suspicious, after all it is rather hot and it hasn't rained for well over a week." Hearing this Sasuke nodded, he had noticed the puddle, but he hadn't jumped to the conclusion of missing-nin hiding in it though. Naruto just nodded hearing this; he hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention to the road because he had been reading, so he made a note of being more attentive.

"B-but if you knew they were there, they why did you let them attack us?"

"That's simple Tazuna-san; I wanted to find out who their target was."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I wanted to know if their target was us, or you. I got my answer when one of them yelled to the other to 'get the bridge builder'…" Kakashi's voice dropped to a tone of seriousness again, "Now Tazuna-san it is clear that this is more than just the C rank mission we were hired for. We were hired to protect you from ordinary dangers until this bridge you are building was complete. However if you had told us that you were being targeted by shinobi, then this would have been classified as at least a B rank mission, one which would have been assigned a highly skilled team of chūnin or jōnin. I don't know what your reasons were, but it is never a good idea to conceal things like this when asking for help. As it is now, the task of guarding you falls beyond the boundaries of our mission."

After a few minutes of tense silence Sakura spoke up, "Then Kakashi-sensei what are we supposed to do, we're not ready for a mission like this, shouldn't we go back home we shouldn't be on a mission like this yet sensei." Sakura didn't quite understand why her teammates weren't backing her up, but Kakashi just sighed.

"That would probably be the most sensible thing Sakura, but it's more complicated than just that."

Sakura was about to ask what Kakashi meant when Tazuna spoke up. "Umm, Kakashi-san, please listen. I have something I'd like to tell you all." Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 turned around and faced Tazuna. Thinking over the fight he had just seen he was immensely grateful that he had been wrong when he had insulted all the genin on Team 7 earlier.

"As you know, this mission is much more dangerous than how I initially made it seem. You see a very powerful man wants me dead."

Hearing this, Naruto spoke up, "Who's this powerful guy?"

"I don't know if you have ever heard of him, though your sensei might have, his name is Gatō." Hearing this Naruto had a sudden flash of anger, remembering their last C rank mission. Gatō was apparently the man who was having the women and children kidnapped from the villages, and he was the one who hired all the bandits that Naruto and his team fought on the mission.

"That bastard again?"

"You know him?"

Seeing Tazuna's confusion Kakashi explained, "Yes, you see on our last C rank mission we had to rescue a group of civilians who had gone missing, as it turned out Gatō had a large group of bandits abducting these people, and as such we had to fight our way through them to get the civilians out." Tazuna nodded at this, hearing this actually made some of the disappearances in Nami no Kuni make more sense. It seemed as if Gatō was also kidnapping his people.

"Well it seems you at least know something about him, you see over a year ago Gatō came to our land under the guise of a business venture. It didn't take long though for violence to break out in our home. Gatō quickly took control of all of our shipping and transportation industries. He has our entire country in his grasp, he controls our wealth and he control's our lives." Tazuna paused for a moment to stable himself, "That is the reason Gatō wants me dead, because the only thing he has to fear is the bridge that I am building from Nami to the mainland."

Hearing this, the genin nodded in understanding, and Sakura spoke, "So Gatō is after you because as the architect of the bridge if you're gone then they won't be able to finish it. So you're basically the only person who can take control of the country away from him." Tazuna nodded grimly at this, and Kakashi spoke up.

"While I'm sympathetic to your cause, I still don't understand why you didn't tell us of your predicament and the dangers you faced earlier, we would have been able to send a team better suited to assist you if you had."

Tazuna once again hung his head, "You see, Nami isn't a wealthy land, even our Daimyo is poor. We pooled our money together, and the most we could afford was a C rank mission. If you leave me know I'm as good as dead, I'd understand though." Kakashi sweat dropped at this, and Tazuna continued, "But that's really not your concern, you won't have to see my daughter or my little grandson cry themselves to sleep at night because the Konoha shinobi left me to die. And you won't mind my daughter vowing eternal hatred to Konohagakure, and all the shinobi from there as she lives out the rest of her days lonely and miserable." By now all Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were also all sweat dropping at what they were hearing, "But hey, it's not like it'll be you guys fault." Tazuna finished his speech with a smirk seeing the looks on the shinobi's faces.

Sighing Kakashi turned to his team, "Well guys what do you think?"

Sakura looked worried; she had been freaked out when the two Kiri-nin attacked them. Sasuke just shrugged, as if it didn't matter to him one way or another. It was of course Naruto that spoke up, "I say we go through with it Kakashi-sensei, we managed to do pretty well with the last fight, and I really want a chance to get back at Gatō for all his men. Besides we can't just leave all these people to suffer, I don't think I'd ever deserve to be Hokage if I just stand by and let this happen." Kakashi looked over his students again.

"Are the rest of you ok with this?" Sasuke just nodded, he wouldn't mind another chance of testing his skills; besides he still wasn't satisfied with their last fight seeing as Naruto had interfered. Sakura slowly nodded as well, she was still worried, but she didn't like the idea of leaving all the people of Nami no Kuni at the mercy of some tyrant.

"Alright then Tazuna-san, we'll continue to protect you for now, at least until we get to your home." Tazuna smirked triumphantly at this. "However that still leaves us with needing to deal with these two." Team 7 looked to where Kakashi was pointing and saw the still unconscious.

Naruto stood still for a moment before turning to his sensei, "Well Kakashi-sensei, they're both in the BINGO book, so that means they have bounties…" Kakashi nodded briefly before turning wide eyed to his student.

"Naruto, how do you know that, only chūnin and above are allowed to have BINGO books?" At this Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Hehe, yeah I wonder how…" Naruto really hoped his sensei wouldn't press the issue, because he really didn't want to have to explain how he had henged into him, before he had become their sensei so that he could get a copy of the BINGO book.

Kakashi just sighed at his student's antics and decided to let the issue drop for now. "Well then Naruto, why don't you tell us what you know about them?"

Naruto thought for a moment, trying to recall everything he could about the pair. "Well Kakashi-sensei, they were known as the Demon Brothers. Their names are Gōzu and Meizu and they were both chūnin before they defected from Kiri. They specialized in coordinated attacks, and were known for using poisons." Kakashi nodded impressed at how much his student knew about the pair.

"Alright, I'll send a message back to the Hokage telling him about the changes in our mission, and I'll ask that he sends some ANBU to pick these two up." Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke nodded at this. Naruto went to check his equipment, when he noticed Sasuke had followed him.

"What is it Uchiha?" Sasuke just stared blankly at Naruto for a moment. Naruto debated speaking up again when Sasuke finally spoke.

"You got in the way of my fight." Naruto stared blankly at his teammate before sighing.

"Look Sasuke, I saw a chance to help end the fight faster and I took it, it ended the fight sooner. However if it makes you feel better I don't doubt you would have been able to take him down on your own." Naruto really didn't feel like fighting with his teammate right now, especially since something else was still bugging him. He couldn't remember what it was, but he felt like he was forgetting something important that he had read in the BINGO book about the Demon Brothers.

Sasuke was still standing silently, he had planned on telling Naruto of for his interference, but it just felt like that would be the wrong idea right now, especially seeing as he knew Naruto actions had technically been the correct ones. So he just stood and watched as Naruto picked up his own equipment from his battle. When he saw some of Naruto's kunai disappear in a cloud of smoke he was confused though. He knew that Naruto keep a lot of his stuff in sealing scrolls, but the kunai had just disappeared in his hand. "What did you just do?"

Naruto looked at his teammate with some confusion apparent on his face, "What're you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, what did you just do with your kunai?"

Naruto just looked at his teammate for a second before deciding to joke around a bit, "Oh, you mean… this?" And with another cloud of smoke Naruto once again had the Kunai in his hand.

"Stop screwing around Naruto, where are you storing your kunai?" Shaking his head he sealed away the Kunai again, but before Sasuke could speak up he held out a hand.

"I created a sealing matrix on my gloves for my weapons." Sasuke looked at him incredulously for a moment, until he realized that Naruto didn't boast as much as he had used to. And seeing what he had of Naruto's fuinjutsu skills he decided against denying it. "Why do you ask Sasuke, you jealous?"

Feeling indignant Sasuke just grunted and walked away. Smirking Naruto finished gathering his equipment and made his way back over to his team. It wasn't long after that that the group continued on their way, this time with everyone on high alert. Naruto had been rather depressed to find his book damaged, but figured it wouldn't make too much difference seeing as all the other books on his Clan Laws that he still had to read.

Soon the group found their way at a small dock, where a rather nervous boatman was waiting. After a quick greeting, the man rushed them onto his boat and pushed off shore. The boat ride was pretty much silent aside from Tazuna and the boatman's hushed conversation. After several hours the boatman told them to look ahead, and through the fog Team 7 caught their first glimpse of the massive structure. The bride was a towering creation, its supports rising straight out of the water meeting up with the bridge walkway itself.

"Damn, that's huge…"

"It sure is, and soon enough it'll be finished and my people will be free from Gatō's tyranny."

Hearing the proclamation, the boatman quickly hushed Tazuna, warning him to be quieter. Eventually though the boatman let them off on a small dock. Tazuna thanked the man profusely and promised to finish the bridge as quickly as possible so that they would finally be free from Gatō.

The group walked for another short while until Sakura spoke up quietly, "Geez, Kakashi-sensei why is there so much mist, it's giving me the creeps?"

This statement caused Naruto to stop dead in his tracks. "_How the hell could I have forgotten that?!_" Kakashi noticed Naruto stopping and turned towards his student.

"Naruto what's wrong."

Naruto took a few moments to steady himself before turning back to his sensei, "Sensei, you said earlier that the next shinobi we faced could possibly be a jōnin right?"

Slightly confused Kakashi nodded, "Yes Naruto, that would be most likely, you don't have to worry though-" Before he could finish though Naruto interrupted him.

"No Kakashi-sensei we do have to worry, I can't believe I was so stupid and forgot that."

"What're you talking about Naruto?"

"Remember when I said the Demon Brothers fled Kiri?"

"Yes."

"Well I just remembered that they didn't leave alone." Curious all of his teammates turned to face Naruto. "They left Kiri with one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū." Kakashi's eye widened at this.

A worried Sakura asked, "W-What's the Kiri no Shinobigatana Schichinin Shū?"

Dropping his voice Kakashi answered her question, "They're also called the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, it was a group of the seven most talented and often , the most ruthless blade wielding shinobi to ever be seen in Kiri…"

Naruto's voice shuddered as he continued, "Y-yeah, and the Demon Brothers left with Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist." After Naruto spoke the name Kakashi seemed to become even more alert.

"Get ready for anything guys." All three genin took a weapon in hand and stood in formation around Tazuna. Hearing something off to their right, Naruto tossed a kunai. After a few tense seconds a small white rabbit jumped out of the bushes, it had obviously been spooked. Seeing this Sakura was about to reprimand Naruto for nearly injuring the animal when Kakashi held a hand up, "Wait a minute Sakura, didn't you guys notice anything odd about that rabbit?"

"What do you mean Sensei?"

"Sakura, that rabbit was white, its summer its fur should have been brown." Not completely getting his point Sakura looked at Kakashi questioningly. "Sakura it means that the rabbit was probably raised in captivity, which means it's probably supposed to be used for a Kawarimi no Jutsu." Hearing this Sakura's face went pale, everyone understood what that implied.

Suddenly a whooshing sound could be heard, "GET DOWN!" Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke dropped to the ground, while Kakashi tackled Tazuna down. Turning to look at what had caused the noise Naruto shivered slightly at the sight, there was a large blade embedded in the tree right behind where they had been standing. However it wasn't the blade that made him shiver; standing upon the hilt of the sword was none other than one Momochi Zabuza.

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BAM, done chapter 14. I'm hoping you all liked it, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I believe it is the fastest I have ever written a chapter, and I hope my writing didn't suffer for it. As promised I got Hinata in this chapter, she didn't have the largest part in it, but remember she is at this point still really shy and Naruto still hasn't gotten to know her too well. Also I feel I should say this before people get mad at me for having the mission to Wave, I feel it is very important for character development, and I have a lot of plans for this mission. I've actually had plan's for the mission to wave since I started writing this story.

Once again I'd like to remind you all to check out my photo album for the story, the link is on my profile page. The next chapter is going to be out by the 15th, I want to get myself writing faster, and as such I've challenged myself to get these chapters out really quickly. Anyhow, as always please read and review, the more reviews I get the faster I'll write, so if you want to read more leave a review. I'll never be able to explain how much the reviews help keep me motivated. So please review.

Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


	15. Chapter 15 - The Demon of the Mist

Hey Everyone, as promised I have put out three chapters over the course of 1 week. Huzzah, I am proud of myself for this accomplishment... and will never do it again. Honestly pushing out that many chapters in such a short time period was rather difficult. My goal was to get out the 15th chapter on the 15th, the reason why... I really don't know, I guess it's because today's my birthday so I figured it would be nice to get a chapter out today. The rush of chapters was more me wanting the date and the chapter number to match. But anyhow, enough of my rambling. I wanted to thank all of you guys for the reviews and the encouragement.

I'd like to ask once again for you please leave a review, and aside from that enjoy the chapter.

So now without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 15.

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"Naruto" - Person/Summon Speaking

_"Naruto"_- Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Jutsu

**"Naruto"** - Boss Summon/Demon Speaking

**_"Naruto"_**- Boss Summon/Demon Thinking/Inner Sakura

Published: 15/08/13

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**Chapter 15 – The Demon of the Mist**

Above Team 7 stood the Demon of the Mist; Naruto briefly noted that the BINGO book failed to mention the murderous aura the man seemed to exude. Naruto had been in many violent situations before, but never before had he faced a person who seemed to relish it. Zabuza was tall, muscular and pale, but the thing that worried Naruto the most were the man's eyes, the swordsman looked at them all as if they were just prey to be hunted. No matter how many bandits Naruto had heard boast that they could catch or kill him, they never came close to the man staring down at his team.

"Hmmm, if it isn't Momochi Zabuza; the so called demon who ran away from Kirigakure." Naruto looked at Kakashi with a bit of shock, he had read a lot about his sensei, but he still didn't think teasing a man known as the Demon of the Mist was the best idea. "All of you guys stay back, you did well in the last fight, but this one is going to be on a whole other level. This fight might get a little out of hand." As he spoke Naruto noticed his sensei reaching for his hitai-ate.

Now Naruto knew what his sensei hid underneath his headband, anyone who had read up on the man would know, Momochi Zabuza knew what he was doing, but Sasuke and Sakura looked confused. Seeing Kakashi's movement Zabuza spoke up, "Sharingan no Kakashi, if it's not too much trouble would you mind just handing over the bridge builder, I've got a schedule to keep."

Hearing the word 'Sharingan' Sasuke looked wide eyed at his teacher "_What does he mean Sharingan, that's the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai._"

Not bothering to respond to Zabuza, Kakashi addressed Team 7, "Guys, get into formation around Tazuna and don't interfere with this fight, that's the sort of teamwork this fight calls for." Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura just nodded at this, they weren't particularly anxious to get into a fight with the man standing before them.

"To be able to face you're Sharingan so soon after our meeting, it is an honour Kakashi. Back when I was still in the Assassination Corps for Kiri you were in our BINGO book, in fact there was a lot in there about you; the son of the White Fang, and the man who has copied over a thousand Jutsu, Kopī Ninja no Kakashi." Sakura looked at her teacher, she found it hard to believe that their lazy and chronically late sensei was really as impressive as Zabuza was making him sound, but then again he father had also been telling her more about his life as a shinobi, and he had told her that she was incredibly fortunate to have a shinobi as talented as Kakashi as her sensei.

Sasuke was still looking at his sensei with confusion; he didn't get how Kakashi had a Sharingan. The Kekkei Genkai only ever manifested in around a quarter of the members of his clan, so Sasuke was rather confused with how his sensei had it. Sakura also knowing that the Sharingan was the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai looked questioningly towards Sasuke hoping he'd have an answer to the mystery.

Naruto on the other had didn't think it particularly mattered how their sensei came to have his Sharingan; he was more curious about seeing what it could do in the fight. After all, he could read everything there was to read on the Sharingan but it wouldn't be useful without having a real one to compare it too.

"Enough, as pleasant as this conversation has been I still have my job to do, it seems though to get to my target I'll have to go through you though Kakashi, sorry but today is not your lucky day." In an instant Zabuza disappeared, along with his sword. Hearing a splash the Konoha shinobi turned to see him now standing on the lake before them.

Naruto could only watch as he saw Zabuza apparently finish a set of hand signs, "Kirigakure no Jutsu." All the members of Team 7 watched as Zabuza disappeared into the mist. Naruto couldn't help but feel unnerved as he watched the mist float lazily towards them, expanding outwards from where Zabuza had just been.

"All you guys be on your guard, Zabuza was famous for his mastery of the art of Silent Killing, if you let your guard down for a second you might as well be asking to get killed." Everyone grew worried hearing this, Naruto summoned a pair of Kunai, one in each hand, and readied himself, and he glanced towards his teammates quickly and saw that they had readied themselves as well. He wanted to say something to reassure Sakura, but he had a feeling drawing attention to himself was definitely not a good idea when they were facing an opponent like Zabuza.

"8 Choices…" Naruto felt a chill run up his spine when he heard the voice from somewhere in the mist, "Throat, Spine, Liver, Lungs, Jugular, Clavicle Vein, Kidneys or Heart... So many choices… but which one to pick?"

Sasuke was frozen; he couldn't get beyond the terrible feeling of bloodlust permeating the air. He felt that any action, no matter how small would draw all attention towards him. He felt like he was just waiting to die, like his life rested solely in Zabuza's hand.

Sakura was terrified, she had never felt this much killing intent in her life, sure her father had warned her of it, and they had heard theory about it back in the academy, but that didn't help her feel any less terrified. She felt less than powerless, she felt insignificant. She was just waiting for her death.

Naruto was doing better than his teammates, though not by a whole lot. He felt like prey, he was in Zabuza's sights, and if he didn't do something he was probably going to end up dead, he just didn't know exactly how to react.

Sensing his team's state Kakashi spoke quietly to them, "Guys, calm down… no matter what happens I will protect you. I won't let my comrades die."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

Suddenly, Zabuza appeared between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna,, fortunately before Zabuza could make another move Kakashi crashed into him, driving a kunai into his side. Kakashi felt relieved for a brief moment before he saw the water leak out of Zabuza from where he had been stabbed, "_Damn, a Mizu Bunshin._"

"Sensei, he's behind you!" Naruto and the others all had jumped back as soon as Kakashi crashed into Zabuza, but as Zabuza turned into water, Naruto saw another on appear behind his sensei. Naruto watched with horror as the newly appearing Zabuza sliced his sensei in half. Thankfully though, Kakashi also reverted to water, unnerving Zabuza. "_How? Did he copy my Mizu Bunshin before?_"

Once again Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, this time with a kunai at the man's throat. "Game over Zabuza." Completely unfazed by the apparent role reversal Zabuza started to chuckle. It was probably the second most menacing laugh Naruto had ever heard, but then again even if Zabuza was called the Demon of the Mist, he still didn't hold candle to the Kyūbi.

"Heh-heh-heh, you think you've won? I'm sorry to say, but it'll take a whole lot more than just copying me to be able to take me out." Kakashi was feeling slightly worried again, he'd been in more than enough fights to know that when your opponent started boasting like this it was for one of two reasons; they were either trying to throw him off, or he'd fallen into some sort of trap. "I will admit that you're skilled though, you were able to copy my technique while giving that little speech to your brats. You even managed to use a substitution to get the real you out of sight and hid in the mist watching to see what I'd do." Kakashi was just growing more and more apprehensive as Zabuza continued, "Too bad I'm not that easy to fool."

Once again Zabuza's body reverted to liquid revealing itself to just be another Mizu Bunshin. Reacting purely on instinct Kakashi dropped down and avoided a swipe from Zabuza's blade, unfortunately for Kakashi though, Zabuza embedded the end of his blade into the ground, and used that momentum to swing himself to kick Kakashi straight in the chest sending him flying backwards towards the water.

As soon as Kakashi hit the water he knew he was in trouble, for some reason the water felt heavier than normal. "Fool." Kakashi glanced back at Zabuza seeing him standing on the water, finishing a set of handsigns, "Suirō no Jutsu."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura watched in shock as the water formed itself into a sphere surrounding their sensei. Naruto's mind was racing, they needed to get their sensei out of the jutsu he was caught in, but he needed to get close enough to force Zabuza to break the jutsu, he knew if he could get to the water then he could do it, but the question was how could he get close enough without getting killed.

Zabuza meanwhile had a look of satisfaction on his partially concealed face, "Heh-heh, you won't be getting out of this prison Kakashi, you're trapped. Now be a good little prisoner and just stay still while I go take care of the others." Kakashi watched as Zabuza made a handsign and summoned another Mizu Bunshin.

Naruto and the others watched as Zabuza's clone jumped to the shore and began speaking, "Heh-heh-heh, you think that wearing those hitai-ate makes you a shinobi? Don't make me laugh; a real shinobi is someone who comes face to face with death on a daily basis. Having some headband doesn't make you a ninja. You're only really a ninja when you're good enough to be listed in my BINGO book. We had a name for kid's like you…" Shocking the group watching, Zabuza suddenly appeared before Naruto.

Naruto found himself in pain and flying backwards, he registered Sakura calling out to him in worry before focusing back on Zabuza, "We called you Brats."

Kakashi seeing what had happened yelled out to the genin, "Guys, take Tazuna and run, you can't win this fight, but Zabuza can't move if he wants to keep me here. His clone can't move too far away from him otherwise he'll lose control of it, so get out of here!" Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna just stared at Kakashi.

Naruto was torn, he didn't want to leave his sensei, but he doubted that he could actually fight Zabuza on his own. Staring ahead he saw Zabuza stomp down on something. Seeing the glint of metal Naruto slowly reached towards his forehead and felt that his hitai-ate was gone. Squinting slightly Naruto saw that Zabuza was standing on top of his headband. In that instant Naruto could swear he saw his life flash before his eyes, all the struggles he had gone through, all the garbage he had put up with, it had all been to get that headband, so he could fulfill his dream, but now it was more than that, Naruto had changed since he first put on his headband, he had grown stronger, he had grown faster, he had grown smarter but most of all, he had grown more determined. Seeing Zabuza standing on the thing that represented the turning point in his life just pissed Naruto off.

Grunting Naruto stood up slowly. He looked towards his team quickly before staring at the Zabuza standing on his headband. Naruto launched himself towards Zabuza, "_First I need to get back my hitai-ate, then we save Kakashi-sensei._" As Naruto ran, he heard Sakura scream out in protest, and Kakashi yell a warning, but he had his eyes set on his goal. Just before he was in Zabuza's range, Naruto dove, managing to just get under Zabuza's kick, Naruto grabbed his hitai-ate back off the ground, and quickly used a Kawarimi to get out of of the way of Zabuza's second kick.

Looking momentarily surprised Zabuza stared at where the brat had disappeared from and saw a kunai stuck in the ground. He turned back around and saw that Naruto was back where he had been before he made his dash forward, "_Hmm, so the brat dropped a kunai in the ground before charging so he could switch himself out, the brat's actually a bit better than I thought._" Kakashi could only sigh with relief seeing that his student hadn't been harmed.

Slowly standing back up from his kneeling position Naruto turned to face Zabuza, "Put this in your BINGO book Momochi Zabuza, the guy who will be the next Hokage, Is Uzumaki Naruto; last heir of the Uzumaki Clan." As Naruto spoke he slowly retied his Hitai-ate around his forehead.

The real Zabuza was watching this whole thing and turned briefly to Kakashi and spoke while shrugging slightly, "I hate to admit this, but that brat's got spunk, it's a shame I have to kill him." Kakashi meanwhile couldn't help but smile at his student and turned to Zabuza.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, after all Naruto is probably Konoha's most unpredictable ninja."

Across with Naruto, his teammates were staring open mouthed at him. Seeing this Naruto spoke, "Sasuke, listen up."

"What is it?"

"I've got a plan, Sakura will you be ok to watch Tazuna for a bit?" Sakura nodded quickly, she didn't know exactly why, but the way Naruto was acting she couldn't help but believe he'd be able to pull off whatever it was he was planning.

Sasuke smirked a bit, "Hn, so now it's time for teamwork?"

Naruto briefly copied their sensei's patented eye smile, before turning back to face Zabuza, "Let's go."

Watching this, Zabuza couldn't help but laugh, "Heh-heh-heh, you seem pretty sure of yourselves, do you really think any of you stand a chance against me?"

Kakashi on the other hand was panicking again, "What are you all doing? I told you all to get away from here. Our job is to protect Tazuna, so you have to get him out of here!" Hearing this, Naruto and his teammates faltered for a moment, and Naruto turned to face Tazuna.

Tazuna slowly let out a low sigh, "Let's face the facts. I got us into this mess by lying about the mission, so we're in this mess because of me. I've lived a long life, and I don't want you four to get killed trying to protect me, so give this everything you've got."

Smirking once again Sasuke turned to Naruto, "Are you ready then?"

"Do you need to ask?"

"Heh-heh-heh-heh, hah-hah-hah-haah, it seems you brats really don't care about you're lives then, you're obviously still all just playing at being shinobi." Naruto and Sasuke glared at the man, as Sakura looked at him questioningly, "By the time I was your age I had already dyed my hands red with blood."

Hearing this Kakashi sighed, "The Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza."

"Oh, it seems like my reputation precedes me?"

"A long time ago, Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist, used to be known as The Village of the Bloody Mist. There final test to become a shinobi was the most inhumane and difficult thing imaginable." Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna looked on in confusion, Naruto just gritted his teeth under his mask, and he had read all about Kirigakure, so he knew about their bloody graduation test. "They would pit their students off against each other in fights to the death, people who had grown up together, shared meals and dreams with, were forced to kill one another. Around ten years ago they stopped that practice though, because one boy, who wasn't even a student at the time, appeared on the day of the test and slaughtered the entire graduating class."

Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna looked at Zabuza with horror on their eyes; Naruto stared at him with disgust. "Ah, such good times, I had so much-" Zabuza's fond recollection however was cut short by the voice of Naruto.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Irritated, but slightly impressed, Zabuza watched as around a dozen Naruto's ran towards him. Not fazed in the slightest, Zabuza proceeded to smash all the Naruto's away. With only one Naruto left flying through the air Zabuza couldn't help but be disappointed, he had thought that the brat was a bit better than that. He watched as the blonde and red haired youth summoned a Fūma Shuriken, "Sasuke, catch."

Watching with thinly veiled amusement he watched the black haired genin catch the shuriken. As soon as he caught the shuriken Sasuke realized what his teammate was planning, he couldn't help but smirk at his teammates plan, as subtly as he could, and Sasuke grabbed another fūma shuriken and threw the pair at Zabuza.

The real Zabuza watched as the shuriken swerved around his clone and headed straight for him, "Well at least you had the sense of aiming for the real me this time." Reacting quickly, Zabuza caught the giant shuriken only to see a second hidden in its shadow. Once again displaying impressive reaction time, Zabuza jumped over the second shuriken feeling disappointed with how pathetic the genin were.

However, right as the second shuriken passed underneath him, it transformed into one Uzumaki Naruto. Sliding across the surface of the water, Naruto couldn't help but grin, "_Alright, time to see what all my training with Gai-sensei has led up too._" Naruto dragged his leg through the water, sending a wave of it towards the still airborne Zabuza. Unimpressed with the attempted diversion, Zabuza allowed the water to collide with him. What he didn't expect was for the water to nearly break the arm it hit.

Zabuza's shock at the pain of the blow caused him to retract his arm from the jutsu holding Kakashi prisoner; he stared at Naruto trying to figure out what exactly he was doing. It looked to him like the boy was having trouble with his water walking, seeing as he was submerged to his shins, but then he noticed the water coating the boys arms, as well as the water slowly pulsing away from him.

Zabuza didn't have long to think as the boy appeared immediately before him, punching him straight in the chin. The blow had enough force to send him upwards, but that movement didn't last for long, as the water around the boys hand seemed to grab hold of his neck and bring him back down into another devastating water powered kick.

Back on the shore Sasuke was staring wide eyed at his teammate. He had expected Naruto to do something simple to break Zabuza's hold on his jutsu, but now he was watching Naruto launch Zabuza backwards. The punch looked straightforward enough, but right after contact, the water coating Naruto's arm lashed out like a whip grabbing Zabuza's neck and pulled him back down into another kick.

Kakashi was equally shocked, he was planning on giving a stern talking to too Naruto about engaging Zabuza in direct combat, but he couldn't help but smile with pride at how well Naruto had been progressing with his family's taijutsu style. The guiding principal behind Fudōken was to let the water do the work. It took a lot of control to be able to manipulate the water to perform some of the more advanced parts of the style. A beginner to the style would start by fuelling the waves with their chakra as Naruto had done with his first attack. He knew from firsthand experience that those waves hurt, and he bet that Zabuza was cursing himself for underestimating his student. He was more impressed that Naruto had managed to form the water around him arms. A master of Fudōken would be able to cover their whole body with water, Naruto was obviously not there yet.

He watched as his student landed a second water powered kick, and this time watched Zabuza jump back, obviously the missing-nin had grown tired of getting hit, and as good as Naruto might be, he knew Naruto was nowhere near a master of his style yet. "Die you brat!" After taking the second kick Zabuza had noticed that the water hadn't grabbed him again, so he used the opportunity to jump back. He had been about to throw the fūma shuriken at the brat when he saw a waterlogged Hatake Kakashi holding his wrist and glaring daggers at him.

"Excellent job Naruto, I'm impressed with how much you've progressed. I'm proud of all of you, but now it's time for me to end this fight." Zabuza looked coolly back at Kakashi.

"So the brat surprised me and I lost focus of my jutsu."

"No. Your hold on your jutsu was forcibly broken. I guess they aren't just brats after all, and by the way I won't get caught in that jutsu again." Meeting eyes with Kakashi once more both Zabuza and Kakashi leapt backwards.

Seeing the pair rush through handsigns Naruto launched himself away from the pair, sliding across the surface of the water, he was grateful that Kakashi had stepped in when he did, he knew the only reason he got the hits in on Zabuza that he did was because he had been caught off guard. Still Naruto couldn't help but feel a little proud that he had managed to land three hits on a jōnin level missing-nin. Glancing towards the shore though, he wasn't looking forward to the questions he was going to get from his teammates.

Skidding across the surface Naruto made it to the shore in time to hear both Kakashi and Zabuza shout out the same jutsu, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" Never having seen this jutsu before, Sakura and Sasuke stared wide eyed at the two massive dragon-like figures that rose out of the water and crashed into each other.

The backsplash of the attack sent giant waves crashing upon the shore, knocking over Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna, Naruto managed to ride the waves until they carried him to where his teammates were.

Zabuza was highly unnerved at this time though, he had cursed already been pissed thanks to the brat getting in a couple hit's on him, but now Kakashi was copying him perfectly, something just didn't seem right about it. Zabuza jumped away from Kakashi and started running around trying to get behind him, and stopped to start another jutsu, but somehow, Kakashi was still directly opposite him moving in perfect synchronization with him, "_Damn it, he sees-"_

"-through everything." Zabuza flinched hearing Kakashi finish his thought. He looked at Kakashi once again and found his eyes drawn towards the Sharingan.

From the shore Tazuna and the genin watched as there sensei battled Zabuza. Naruto found it unnerving watching his sensei imitate Zabuza, but he figured if the strategy was working he wouldn't complain about it. It only served to make Naruto more wary of the Sharingan. He glanced towards Sasuke for a moment, before turning his eyes back to the fight; he'd worry about Sasuke's Sharingan when it developed.

"Suiton: Daibafuku no Jutsu!" Zabuza stared in shock as Kakashi completed the jutsu before him, and Naruto and the team just watched in awe as the great cyclone of water rocketed off towards Zabuza, throwing him backwards and smashing him into the trees. After the water receded a waterlogged Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna as well as a slightly damp Naruto saw Zabuza lying against the tree he had been smashed into for support.

Zabuza looked up at Kakashi feeling slightly worried; he had definitely underestimated Kakashi, "Does your eye see the future?"

"Yes, and your future is death." As Kakashi spoke he drew a kunai and prepared to strike Zabuza with it, but before he could land the hit, a pair of senbon pierced through Zabuza's neck.

Shocked by the turn of events the genin turned towards the figure that just now dropped from the trees. "It would seem as if you were correct." Kakashi quickly knelt down and checked for Zabuza's pulse, not finding one he turned towards the new shinobi, "I apologize for interfering, but I have been tracking this one for a long while now, and I wanted the satisfaction of killing him myself."

Kakashi slowly nodded and spoke, "Based off your mask and what you said, I'm assuming you're a Hunter-nin from Kiri."

Hearing this Naruto focused more on listening to what the pair were saying, he'd read up on Hunter-nin, and he knew what they were supposed to do, he couldn't help but feel a bit depressed that someone who seemed to be close to his age had been able to so cleanly take down Zabuza. He knew it was a stupid thing to get upset about, but he had been hard pressed to land the few hits he did, and then out of nowhere this hunter-nin just took Zabuza down.

"Now if you'll excuse me I must dispose of his body, there is no telling of how many secrets one such as him would hold." Somewhat confused by this, Naruto didn't have a chance to react before the hunter-nin picked up Zabuza and disappeared in a swirl of water.

"Well, come on then guys, we still have to get Tazuna-san home." Team 7 watched with a mixture of amusement, exasperation and concern, seeing as immediately after Kakashi finished speaking he toppled over and fell flat on his face. Sakura quickly ran over to Kakashi to find out what was wrong, "Ugh, I guess I used the Sharingan for a little too long, I'm out of chakra… so you'll just have to carry me."

Sakura looked from Naruto to Sasuke and then back to Naruto. Sasuke was also staring at Naruto hearing this. Feeling all their eyes on him Naruto let out an exasperated sigh, "Seriously guys?"

Smirking, Sasuke shrugged, "Well you are the one who can make the solid clones."

Dropping his head Naruto made a quick handsign and summoned a pair of clones to carry their sensei. Satisfied with his work Naruto turned to Tazuna, "Alright then Tazuna-san lead the way." Nodding at this, Tazuna lead them down the road towards his village. Still feeling tense after the fight Naruto decided to create a few more clones to watch around them in case anything else tried to surprise them.

Sasuke watched Naruto for most of the remaining trip to Tazuna's village. Naruto seemed to be deep in thought, and even though it wasn't particularly uncommon for the blonde and red haired boy to get caught up in things, he didn't usually look so concerned, "What is it Uzumaki?"

Surprised hearing Sasuke's voice Naruto turned towards the Uchiha, he had been trying to figure out why the hunter-nin hadn't immediately disposed of Zabuza's body. Unless the hunter-nin had changed how they operated recently from what Naruto had read he knew that once a hunter-nin killed their target they were supposed to immediately destroy the body, and bring back only their target's head as a way of confirming the kill. He had wanted to ask Kakashi about it, but his sensei had lost consciousness after telling them to carry him, so he had to wait. "It's nothing Sasuke; something just seems off to me."

"Something is always off with you." Sasuke smirked seeing Naruto tense at that.

"What's that supposed to mean teme?"

"Nothing dobe."

"You sure, or do you want another appointment with your fan girls?" Naruto laughed as he saw Sasuke miss a step and nearly imitate their sensei's earlier fall.

"I swear I'll get you back for that, you and your stupid bet…"

"Well you did walk right into it, and in fairness I did get you away from them."

"Well you wouldn't have needed to get me away if you didn't force me to walk right into their lair."

Tazuna was rather confused hearing the boy's conversation and turned to the apparently suddenly moody Sakura, "Do you know what those two brats are rambling about?" Sakura's head dropped and she started pouting after the question, "_I swear there's something weird about all these ninja…_"

Naruto and Sasuke finally stopped their bickering by the time they arrived at Tazuna's house, Sakura had gone off with Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami to help look after their still unconscious sensei while Naruto and Sasuke sat outside. "Did you notice anything weird about that hunter-nin?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto questioningly and shrugged while thinking about their encounter. He had been rather put out that there was someone near their age that had managed to take down Zabuza so easily. "What do you mean?"

"Well his timing was kind of convenient wasn't it?"

Sasuke nodded at this, but reasoned it out, "He might have just been waiting for an opening."

Naruto frowned hearing this, "Yeah but then why not just let Kakashi kill him; I mean if all he had to do was get rid of the body why even bother stepping in. He could've just as easily waited for Kakashi to finish him off." Sasuke looked confused at this; it did seem a bit strange.

"Why're you so suspicious of this hunter-nin?" Naruto waited for a moment before responding.

"What do you know about hunter-nin?"

At this Sasuke thought, he didn't really know a whole lot about hunter-nin, all he knew was that Konoha's hunter-nin division was a part of ANBU. Realizing he didn't really have much to go off of whatever point Naruto was trying to make he just shrugged. "I know that they're supposed to hunt down missing-nin."

Nodding at this Naruto started speaking again, "Well yeah, that's their job. What's bugging me is what that guy did with Zabuza's body."

"What're you talking about, he took it away."

"Exactly, when I read up on hunter-nin it talked about how they destroy the bodies of their victims where they were killed, this guy didn't do that, he just picked Zabuza up and carried him away." Sasuke was shocked to hear this, it made the whole thing seem a lot more suspicious.

"What weapons was that guy using again Naruto?"

"He used senbon, wh-" Naruto felt like an idiot for not realizing it before, he knew all about senbon needles, they were used mainly for things like acupuncture, because they had a very low potential for killing. It took a very skilled shinobi to kill a person with a senbon, and on top of that if you wanted to learn to use senbon in combat you'd need very good knowledge of the human body so you knew exactly where to target, and exceptional aim to hit those targets.

Add this to the suspicious behavior of the hunter-nin as well as how he seemed to be in a rush to get away from them lead Naruto to a conclusion. "Shit, we need to talk to Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke had followed along the same line of thought as Naruto so he wasn't about to argue, the issue was that the last time they had tried to get in the room where their sensei was resting Tsunami tossed them back out saying Kakashi needed his rest. "We need to wait till he wakes up still."

Naruto shuddered he too remembered avoiding flying spatulas and other assorted cooking utensils. Tsunami was making sure no one disturbed their sensei until he was healed. Letting out another sigh Naruto nodded, "Ok, we'll wait till Kakashi-sensei wakes up; I don't want to deal with Tsunami throwing stuff at us again."

After another hour or so Naruto made his way into the kitchen, "Hey Tsunami-san is Kakashi-sensei up yet?"

Looking up from the meal she was preparing she turned and leveled a stern glare towards Naruto, "He should be soon, but please don't disturb him until he's fully rested."

Nodding, Naruto looked at the preparations for the meal and decided to offer to help, "Do you need a hand?"

"You cook?"

"Yeah, I only started a couple months ago but I'm decent… I think." Nodding and smiling Tsunami directed him to start cutting up vegetables. Going about his work quickly Naruto noticed a small boy walk by the window. He assumed the boy was Tazuna's grandson, he hadn't shown himself to their group yet, so Naruto put it out of his mind.

After another half hour of preparation Naruto was getting antsy, he didn't like not waiting to tell Kakashi about his suspicions. Tsunami seeing his discomfort sighed, "Alright, you can go see your sensei, just don't get him excited he's still not fully healed yet."

In a flash Naruto had bolted away from the kitchen yelling his thanks to Tsunami. Nearly tripping in his haste Naruto burst into the room Kakashi was sleeping in; only to find his sensei sitting upright, and looking like he was in deep thought. "Oh, hello Naruto."

"Kakashi-sensei, I need to ask you something."

Looking slightly confused Kakashi nodded, "Sensei do you know if the hunter-nin changed their procedure recently?"

"… I see…"

"What sensei?"

"I'm guessing it's what you've already figured out."

"So do you think I'm right?"

"I'm sad to say, but I think you are… That hunter-nin was a fake. This means that Zabuza is still alive." Naruto nodded grimly at this. They were going to need to get ready for when he came back.

* * *

BAM, done the fifteenth chapter, it was a lot harder to get this chapter done than I had expected it too. But anyhow, I hope you guys all liked it. I hope you all liked what I've shown of Naruto's abilities, I know it didn't seem to over the top, but there is more to come, and let's just say that team training is going to be different this time around. Also I know that Naruto doesn't have a natural affinity for water. I will discuss that later on, but as a hint remember this, he was training with Gai. Anyhow I don't really have much more to say, the chapter is done, and I'm going to go get some sleep, I hope you all enjoyed it, and I ask that you please leave a review, and let me know what you think.

The next chapter will be up in around a week, after pushing out all these past chapters I need to take a small break, but don't worry the next chapter will be here soon, so look forward to it. I'd also like to remind everyone to check out the photo album for my story, the link is on my profile, so please check it out, and let me know what you think about it. As always please leave me a review, and let me know what you thought of the chapter as well as any suggestions or ideas you have for me.

Ja Ne

**~FeJazz**


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